The Legend of Zelda: The Secret War
by Davin Sunrider
Summary: Twenty-five years after 'The Fourth Piece', a young Gerudo warrior is sent to Hyrule to find a way to break the curse afflicting her tribe. But, she is soon swept into an epic conflict that has raged since the world's beginning, now nearing its end...
1. A New Mission

He fell. The wind rushed in his ears, and he fell long and fast, his life slipping away. Just as he felt the last sparks of life fading from his body, he hit something solid and knew no more.

Minutes or decades, seconds or centuries later, he heard a voice. The voice said only one thing, but it was enough to let him know that he was still in the world of the living.

The voice was deep and rich, with a cultured accent not quite like any he'd heard before. All it said was this: "**_I'm not through with you just yet_**."

And he felt life in him again, for his task was not yet done.

----------------------------------

**The Legend of Zelda:**

**The Secret War**

One

Twenty-five years after the events of _The Legend of Zelda: The Fourth Piece  
_

"But Father, I've never used this sword before. It's too heavy!"

The speaker, a girl of eighteen years with tanned skin and bright red hair, held in her hands a massive greatsword, nearly as long as she was tall. A Gerudo, she was used to smaller, curved scimitars, which she could wield with deadly speed and accuracy. This weapon, meant for someone much taller and stronger than her, felt awkward and unwieldy in her hands.

"Precisely," her father answered. A tall, broad-shouldered man with long dark hair and a thick beard, both now beginning to show streaks of gray, he was dressed as she was, in loose-fitting tan-colored robes meant to shield the wearer from the harsh desert sun.

He gestured at his daughter with one large hand. "You will not always have your preferred weapon on hand. As a warrior, you must be proficient in many different forms of combat. Suppose you have been captured by an evil warlord. Upon escaping from his dungeon, the only weapon you are able to procure is this sword. The warlord himself attacks you. Will you drop your weapon and flee because you are inexperienced?"

The girl scowled instinctively. Her mother had always taught her that surrender was cowardly, but her father had balanced this with the teaching that death in glorious battle was not always the best solution.

She hefted the gigantic weapon. "I should stand and face him, of course."

Her father raised one eyebrow. "Should you?"

Without warning, he sprang at her, swinging his own weapon, a smaller longsword. The girl stepped back, tilting her massive blade to counter his initial strike, but her father was already moving again, with quickness unusual for someone of his size. He slammed his blade against hers three times within the space of a second, nearly tearing the weapon from her hands. She again backed away, watching her footing on the loose sand shifting around her.

Her father advanced again, moving with speed and skill that spoke of decades of experience with the ways of the sword. With a sudden twisting of his weapon, he spun the greatsword right out of her hands to tumble away through the sand.

The girl frowned angrily; she was acknowledged as being nearly a master already with her usual weapon, the scimitar, and to be defeated so quickly was humiliating.

Stepping forward, her father gently tapped the side of her neck with the flat of his sword. "You stood to face your opponent, and now you are dead. How will you return to free your companions the warlord has also captured?"

The girl sighed irritably. "I am sorry, Father."

"Sorry for what, Lynaka?" he said, smiling suddenly. "Sorry that you could not defeat an opponent of greater size and experience while wielding a weapon unfamiliar to you? Even with all your mother and I have taught you, you did not stand a chance. As I have told you many times before…" He trailed off, indicating that she should finish.

Lynaka sighed amusedly, smiling herself. "It is not always dishonorable to retreat. I will do better to remember this, Father."

He stepped forward and put a thickly muscled arm around her shoulders. "Fortunately, you stand little chance of being captured by an evil warlord. We are blessed with peace, and have been for many years." He gestured to her fallen sword with his own. "It does not hurt to be prepared, though." Her father smiled down at her, his dark eyes full of pride. "You have mastered your mother's weapon, the scimitar. Now, it is time to expand your training to other weapons."

Lynaka nodded as he released her shoulders and she stepped forward to retrieve the greatsword. As she often did, she ran her fingers over the inscribed lightning pattern running down the length of the blade. According to her father and his friends, this sword was over three hundred years old, and had once belonged to a Hero of the Hylians, the people who inhabited the lush green country to the east of the desert. It had been given to her father as a gift of friendship by the last Hero, a descendant of the original owner of the weapon.

She turned to hold it out to her father. As he took it, he swung it skillfully through a complicated arc, making the blade seem as if it weighed nothing at all. When he did this, it reminded Lynaka of the stories he had told her since she was a little girl, of the terrible war he had fought twenty-five years ago alongside her mother and the Hylians.

His name was Arnak, and he had once been a bearer of the Triforce of Power, one-third of a powerful artifact belonging to the Hylians. He had fought alongside the bearers of the other two pieces against the Dark Lord responsible for the war, and upon the evil man's defeat, Arnak had come to the desert and eventually married her mother, a former raider named Nabooru.

Lynaka's father sheathed the greatsword and slung it over his shoulder by the baldric on its scabbard. He picked up his bag and gestured to his daughter's equipment, lying next to it, with his boot. "We should get moving. If we keep a good pace, we can make it back to the city before the hottest part of the day."

The girl collected her equipment and followed her father out into the desert, following close behind him as they walked. Arnak was so tall that, walking behind him, his daughter was shaded by his shadow, something that she had amused herself with when she was younger.

As they turned, bound for the city deep in the desert, Lynaka moved to walk next to her father. "So," she said, looking off in the distance at the towering spires of Hyrule Castle, "do you think Mother will let me come along on your trip to Hyrule?"

Arnak looked over at the castle himself. "I think so." He reached out to pat her affectionately on the shoulder. "She may even ask us to bring your sister along."

Lynaka groaned, and her father laughed. She turned to look up at him. "Father, she hasn't even passed her survival trials yet! Do you think I'll really have to bring her?"

Arnak shrugged. "You only passed your trial a month ago. Erike is two years younger than you, but already she is nearly your equal with the scimitar. She may even get to take the trials soon."

Lynaka also shrugged. She and her sister were named after her parents' friends and comrades in the wars, but only she had ever met her namesake. She had been just eight, and the former Hero had come to visit her father to request his aid in a war the Hylians were fighting. Arnak had agreed, and they had not seen him again for almost two years, receiving only intermittent letters.

Once he had returned, Arnak had refused to talk to his daughters about the war, only mentioning that he would never leave the desert for that long again.

Thinking of something, Lynaka looked over at her father. "Do you think we'll get to meet the Queen?"

Arnak nodded, his expression thoughtful. "I do not doubt it." He smiled at his daughter. "Your mother will tell you more. She has a special task for you."

Lynaka looked up at her father, curious. "What is it?"

He smiled again. "I will let her tell you."

The girl wondered what it could be, but she did not ask him any further questions as they drew closer to the city, now visible off in the distance. The two of them quickened their pace, eager to be home again.

---

* * *

---

Several hours later, Lynaka stood waiting for her mother in the council chamber of the administration building in the center of the city. Her family's apartment was in this building, so she knew its halls well.

As it usually did, the portrait of Ganondorf hanging on one wall attracted Lynaka's attention. It depicted the Accursed One shortly after his coronation, standing in a noble pose with a jeweled scimitar in his hand and a smile on his face. He was dressed in black armor overlaid with Gerudo designs in silver scrollwork, and he stood in front of the building Lynaka now stood in, painted in exacting detail. He looked proud and noble, a warrior king of legend at the start of his career. Lynaka found it hard to believe that the man in this portrait became one of the most reviled men the world had ever known, responsible for the suffering of thousands, most of them his own people.

However, he was not considered to be the most evil king of the Gerudo. That dubious distinction belonged to the man whose portrait hung on the opposite side of the chamber. Lynaka turned to look at the other portrait, crossing her arms over her chest as she did so.

Raneses had been defeated years before she was born by her parents and their allies, but his legacy still affected her and the rest of her people every day. His portrait depicted him in a similar pose to his ancestor, standing with the ornate jeweled scimitar of the Gerudo leader in his hand. He was tall, and the portrait was nearly life-size, so he towered over Lynaka as he would have in life. Most Gerudo referred to him as the Nameless One, since he had so dishonored himself during his thankfully brief reign so that he no longer had the right to bear his name.

The Nameless One was not smiling, and there was a hint of malevolence about him, though it was obvious he was trying to hide it. He wore similar armor to his ancestor's, and a long black cloak hung from his shoulders, once poetically referred to by Lynaka's sister Erike as a 'waterfall of darkness to match his soul.' He had used the people who birthed him as nothing more than tools in his conquest, finally ordering them to their deaths against Lynaka's namesake, who fought for the Hylians. Her mother had been instrumental in helping the Gerudo resist this order before they could be destroyed by the Hero.

Perhaps the thing that made Lynaka most proud of her mother was that she was said to have delivered the death-stroke to the Dark Lord, sharing it with Link the Hero.

"The storytellers still debate which of them was more wicked," a voice said from behind Lynaka.

She turned to see her mother standing in front of the Matriarch's chair, one hand on the armrest. Nabooru's hair was still as vibrantly red as her daughter's, though streaks of gray were liberally scattered through her long mane, bound up in the braid worn by most Gerudo warriors. Though she was past fifty, Lynaka's mother was still in top physical condition, her face largely unlined and her bare arms as toned and muscular as a young warrior's.

Lynaka gestured behind her to the portrait of the Nameless One. "He was. Even the Accursed One made sure to provide for a family."

Nabooru nodded slowly. "I am inclined to agree with you, my daughter." She smiled, moving to clasp Lynaka's forearm in a warrior's salute. Ever since Lynaka had passed her survival trials, officially marking her as an adult, her mother and the other Gerudo warriors had begun greeting her this way.

"So," Lynaka's mother said, putting an arm around her shoulders, "your father tells me you slew a wild boar by yourself on your trip."

Lynaka nodded, smiling. "It was an exciting hunt. We brought as much of the meat as we could carry back with us. Father joked that he could have carried the entire thing one-handed twenty-five years ago. Is that true?"

Nabooru chuckled. "You father was a Triforce Bearer. With the Triforce of Power at his command, there was little he could not do in those days." She gestured to the portrait of Ganondorf. "But, he gave up that power willingly, and that is what made him different than the Accursed One."

Lynaka nodded again. She had heard this story many times. Turning, she looked over at her mother, who was slightly shorter than her. "Father said you have a task for me on his trip to Hyrule."

Nabooru nodded, moving to sit in the Matriarch's chair. Only her friends and family knew her by her given name now, as she had given it up upon being made leader of the Gerudo people. Further, only her husband still called her by name anymore. To most, she was the Matriarch, dignified ruler of the desert tribe. Lynaka knew this was going to be an official mission, not just a request from a mother to her daughter.

"You are to request permission to enter the Royal Archives, where you will research all that you can about the Blood Curse," the Matriarch said. "The Gerudo need to break free of it, now more than ever."

Lynaka nodded gravely. For centuries, only one male had been born to the Gerudo every hundred years, keeping them in perpetual danger of dying out as a race. The last male, the Dark Lord Raneses, had fathered no children, and as a result, no purely Gerudo children had been born since Ganondorf's daughters almost a century and a half ago. Lynaka herself was evidence that children could be born again upon the male's death, but her brown eyes, which she had inherited from her father, were also evidence that the desert people's blood was not as strong as it had once been. Gerudo children ordinarily kept no traits whatsoever from the father, but most of the girls of Lynaka's generation had something from their fathers, including pointed ears on those whose mothers had taken Hylians as mates.

The Gerudo were a proud people, and they wished to keep their own culture instead of being absorbed into another. The Hylians under Queen Zelda had been steadfast allies of the Gerudo for the last quarter century, but the old crones whispered that the Hylians were still trying to conquer the Gerudo, albeit through a different method.

Lynaka straightened, bowing formally while touching one fist to the opposite shoulder in a gesture of respect. "I will do this, my lady," she said.

"Good," said the Matriarch. "I am planning for you to take my place someday, and to be the one to break the Blood Curse will ensure that you will be a great ruler for our people."

The young warrior nodded once. "I will devote my full attention to it."

Nabooru rose from her chair and walked over to her daughter, laying a hand on her shoulder. "This is a weighty responsibility, but you should pace yourself. The Gerudo have been trying to break the Blood Curse for centuries. You will not accomplish this overnight. You may not even accomplish it at all, though I know you will do your best."

Lynaka smiled. "Of course, Mother. Thank you for trusting me with this."

Nabooru nodded. "You are an adult now, and this is an honorable quest. I know you will make me proud."

"I will not let you down, Mother," Lynaka said.

Nabooru put her arm around her daughter's shoulders. "Consider yourself privileged. Few Gerudo have been willingly allowed into the Hylians' capital, though that has changed since the peace." She gestured at the doors at one end of the circular room. "Come on, let's go help your father finish packing."

Mother and daughter left the council room, leaving the portraits of the two Dark Lords alone to silently watch each other once again.

---

* * *

---

A few days later, Lynaka tried to contain her awe upon seeing Castle Town for the first time. Next to her, her father paid a man who kept stables to take care of their horses while they were in the city, counting out Rupees into his hand.

Hyrule Castle towered over the city, gleaming white with blue roofs on its towers. Banners flew from every tower, depicting the triangle made of three smaller triangles that was the Triforce above a red phoenix on a blue field. Soldiers in impeccable uniforms marched in regular patrols through the city, their comrades visible along the walls on watch. It was around midday, and the city was packed with people, rushing through the streets on business, strolling amiably along with their friends, walking their pets, or meeting friends at one of the outdoor cafés scattered throughout the city.

Lynaka felt a hand on her shoulder, and she turned to see her father smiling down at her.

"I am going to visit a few old friends," he said. "Why don't you explore the city a little? There is a bar called Telma's near the southern gate, and I'll meet you there this evening."

The young warrior nodded. "I'll see you later, Father."

She turned to go, but Arnak touched her shoulder. "Watch out for pickpockets," he said. "There isn't much crime here, but those sorts of people like large crowds, so watch yourself."

Lynaka patted the scimitar sheathed at her waist. "I can take care of myself, Father."

Arnak smiled amusedly. "I do not doubt it," he said. "See you this evening."

Lynaka nodded in farewell and moved off through the crowd, continuing to look around at the city. Most of the buildings were made of brick, but a few were made of wood, and the architecture was radically different than what she was used to in the desert. This was clearly a prosperous city, and she did not see any poor or shabby-looking people or buildings. Almost everyone looked happy, well-dressed and well-fed as they went about their business.

Amusingly, for what was reputedly the greatest military power on the continent, very few of the people here seemed to be warriors aside from the soldiers. She was the only person carrying a weapon on the street that she could see, but no one spared her a second glance. Apparently Gerudo were a common sight here since the peace, though she had known that already.

As she made her way out into the central square, Lynaka paused near a café to look up at the statue in the fountain that occupied the middle of the square. Almost ten feet tall, it depicted a man holding a sword aloft, as though he were about to lead a charge. He was dressed in functional warrior's garb, with a long tunic over intricately crafted chain mail and a long, shapeless hat on his head, which was carved as though it were blowing in an unseen breeze. He held a shield at the ready, as though about to step in front of someone to protect them from an incoming arrow, and his expression was determined and noble.

"He's a little shorter than that in real life, you know," a voice said from behind Lynaka.

She turned to look at the person who had spoken, a young human man with reddish-orange hair who was draped lazily over a chair next to one of the tables in the café.

"Have you met the Hero?" Lynaka asked the young man.

He shrugged, pushing the other chair at his table out with his boot. "Yeah, I've seen him," he said offhandedly, idly gesturing at the chair with one hand. "Everybody has, at least once. Seems like there's a parade every time he comes back here."

Lynaka approached the table but remained standing, her arms crossed over her chest. She swept her gaze over the young man quickly, filing away the details she observed and sizing him up with a glance.

He appeared to be in his early twenties, dressed in well-made but ill-maintained clothes in dark colors. His relaxed demeanor was a lie, as Lynaka could tell just by looking at him that he could snap out of it and have the sword hanging from his belt at her throat in an instant. His eyes were a bright, intense blue, currently filled with an amusedly bored look.

"Sit down," he said, gesturing at the chair again. "You're making me nervous."

Lynaka raised an eyebrow, deciding to have some fun. "Oh?" she asked innocently. "What is it that makes you so nervous…?" She leaned forward slightly, silently indicating that he tell her his name.

"Daskin," he said. He gestured to her scimitar with a lazy wave of his hand. "That pig-sticker you've got there, for one. You know how to use it…?" He imitated her questioning pause.

"Lynaka," she answered, finally sitting down. "Yes, I do."

Daskin smirked. "Well, being a Gerudo, I'd think so."

Lynaka leaned back in her chair slightly. "You seem to know more about me than I do about you, Daskin."

He snorted. "Hardly. Who else is going to be walking around Castle Town with a sword hanging from her belt? There hasn't been any real trouble here in fifteen years." He smirked again. "Plus, Gerudo women are known for their somewhat… distinctive attire."

Lynaka crossed her arms over her bare midriff, frowning slightly. She had noticed that most of the women around here wore heavier clothes, but Hyrule was much cooler than the desert, anyway.

"Was there something you wanted, Daskin?" she said, somewhat impatiently.

Daskin grinned in a way he probably thought was charming. "Just a friendly chat with a pretty girl. What're you in town for?"

_Imbecile,_ Lynaka thought. "A mission with my father," she answered.

He raised his eyebrows comically. "Ooh, a mission! You some sort of spy?"

"No," she said bluntly, growing annoyed. "My mother sent me here to do research in the Royal Archives."

Daskin chuckled. "Somehow, you don't strike me as the type who likes hanging out in libraries. You planning on threatening the Chief Archivist with your pig-sticker?"

Lynaka silently made to get up, but the young man waved her back down, his expression half-heartedly apologetic.

"Hey, it's a joke," he said, chuckling. "Thin-skinned, are we?"

She smirked back at him. "No, just a low tolerance for fools."

Daskin clutched his chest, feigning injury. "Ooh, ouch. I'm mortally wounded."

Lynaka half-frowned at him, amused despite herself. "Are you going to continue to waste my time with bad jokes?"

He idly spread his hands. "You have something better to do?" His blue eyes twinkled mischievously. "Like stand around and stare at statues?"

Lynaka smirked again. "I didn't see you doing anything more productive."

Daskin put his hands behind his head, leaning back to prop his boots on the table and ignoring a dirty look from the owner behind her counter. "Maybe I'm here on a mission of my own," he said. "Maybe I'm performing essential reconnaissance."

"I doubt that," said Lynaka, gesturing to the mug in front of the young man. "It looks more like you're drinking away the afternoon."

Daskin grinned. "Maybe that's just what I want it to look like." He dropped his boots back to the cobblestones and pointed behind Lynaka. "You see that guy over there?"

She turned to see what he was looking at and spotted a well-dressed middle-aged man with a slight paunch standing in front of a vendor's stall on the other side of the square, one hand on his chin in a thoughtful expression.

"Yes," she replied.

"He's been standing at that stall for the last five minutes, trying to decide whether or not to buy himself a new belt, 'genuine Eldin leather', and I think he's going to do it."

Lynaka half turned to face her companion. "Why do you say that?"

Daskin shrugged. "Well, the belt he has on is starting to get kind of shabby-looking. I bet his wife told him just this morning that it is, and now his decision is whether or not to let her tell him how to dress himself."

The Gerudo warrior scoffed. "How could you possibly know that?"

Daskin smiled an easygoing smile, spreading his hands. "I don't. But look, he's reaching into his pocket."

Lynaka turned to look, and sure enough, the middle-aged man was paying the vendor, frowning slightly as he accepted the belt.

She turned back to Daskin with a wry smile. "All right, maybe you were right. You have nothing better to do but sit around and watch people?"

He grinned. "Why not? It's a beautiful spring day, the sun is out, and just about everybody is happy. I say enjoy it while it lasts."

"While it lasts?" Lynaka repeated, gradually finding this young man a little more interesting than she had first assumed.

Daskin nodded. "That's the thing about Hyrule; it's usually in the middle of some calamity or other, so people learn to appreciate the times when it's not so… interesting."

Lynaka frowned. "I'm not sure that's how most people would view it. The last time Hyrule was 'interesting', as you put it, hundreds of people died in a terrible war."

He shrugged. "From that remark, I'm assuming one of your parents fought in that war."

She nodded. "They both did."

"Mine, too." Daskin leaned forward in his chair slightly. "You want to take a walk? I feel like stretching my legs."

Lynaka shrugged; she didn't see why not. She stood and watched as he tossed a few Rupees on the table, draining his mug.

When Daskin stood, she realized for the first time how tall he was. While not as tall as her father, he was still over six feet, and thus several inches taller than her.

He smiled at her as he tugged on the bottom of his jacket to straighten it. As he did so, she got a closer look at his sword, which was a fairly simple longsword, long enough for two hands but light enough for one. The crossguard was thick dark steel engraved with angular patterns, and the circular pommel was hollow, inset with an interesting turquoise-colored gem.

Daskin noticed her looking at it and patted the hilt. "Like it? A rich noble had it specially commissioned by his personal blacksmith when I saved his life."

Lynaka raised an amused eyebrow. "I'm sure you're going to tell me the story now."

He grinned, indicating she should go ahead of him with a wave of his hand. "But of course," he said. "It's one of my more interesting adventures."

The Gerudo refrained from rolling her eyes, falling into step beside Daskin as they strolled around the fountain. "Do you have many 'adventures', or do you spend most of your time sitting around watching people?" she asked teasingly.

Daskin lightly feigned indignation. "My lady, only a small portion of my time is spent idly in cafés, waiting for pretty girls to walk by. With the nice boring peace we're under, you've got to make your own fun, unless you want to go off and fight in one of Queen Zelda's wars, which I don't."

She looked over at him. "Do you have something against what your queen is doing?"

He shrugged. "Hey, I'm all for eradicating slavery, but there are too many slavers who've gotten too rich off their trade to sit around and let Queen Zelda disrupt their business. Her advisors have been telling her for years that sooner or later they're going to band together and take her on in force."

Lynaka smiled. "And yet, the Hylian Army conquers more territory with each campaign. The slavers have only a few cities left now. They're all but crushed for good."

Daskin shrugged again. "Eh, I don't want to debate politics. I'd rather talk about something else." He grinned, rapping the leather-wrapped scabbard of his sword with his knuckles. "I was going to tell you about that noble's life I saved, wasn't I?"

Lynaka sighed, feigning patience. "If you must."

He grinned. "I must." He ran his thumb over the crosspiece of his weapon, rubbing a scratch in the metal with his fingernail as if just then noticing it.

Filling it with fancy words and details Lynaka thought unnecessary, Daskin described how he had encountered a noble and his wife in Faron Woods and had helped them fend off some highwaymen. During the fight, his sword had broken, but he and the noble had managed to drive off the highwaymen, and as thanks, the noble had his personal blacksmith craft a new sword for Daskin. He also mentioned that he had 'made the acquaintance' of both the nobles' daughter and their maid while he was waiting for the sword to be finished, which Lynaka understood perfectly, thinking it the most unnecessary of his added details. Who did he think he was telling the story to, one of his drinking comrades?

Lynaka raised a skeptical eyebrow as Daskin finished his story. She couldn't decide whether to be offended or amused at his attitude, but she decided to be amused and chuckled shortly.

He grinned. "What do you think?"

She laughed again. "I think you've got an interesting imagination. You should become a storyteller."

Daskin grinned again, that smile he thought was charming. "Who says I'm not already?"

Lynata shook her head in amusement. "You would get along well with my father's friend Raskys. He tells stories like yours, though half of them are probably not true, like yours."

Daskin shrugged. "Doubt if you will, my lady, but I would not lie to a beautiful woman."

This time Lynaka did let herself roll her eyes. She gestured down the street, vaguely in the direction of the southern gate. "If you will excuse me, I have to meet my father soon." She allowed a bit of mischievousness into her tone. "Unless you'd like to meet him."

Daskin smiled casually. "Maybe another time."

Lynaka nodded amusedly. "Of course. Goodbye, Daskin."

He grinned, and she found that she had already lost track of how many times he had done this since she had met him.

"Until next time," he said, bowing slightly.

Lynaka smiled and turned to walk off down the street, headed for Telma's Bar.

_If there is a next time_, she thought to herself amusedly.

---

* * *

---

Arnak met his daughter in Telma's Bar later, and he was amused by her story of her encounter with Daskin.

"Sounds like a fool," he chuckled as he took a drink of ale. "I would stay away from him."

Lynaka shrugged. "He seemed harmless enough."

Arnak nodded, allowing a teasing smile to come over his face. "Fools usually do."

His daughter gave him a mock-irritated look, a smile belying it. "Did you meet up with your friends?" she asked, looking around the tavern at the other patrons.

Arnak leaned back in his chair, which, he realized as he did so, was the same chair he had sat in the first time he had come into this bar more than twenty-five years ago. Or maybe it wasn't. He wasn't sure.

"They're meeting us here," he said. "One of them is the Chief Archivist, so you should speak to him about helping you look through the Royal Archives."

Lynaka nodded. "I'll do that, Father. I want to get started on Mother's mission for me as soon as I can."

The young woman who had served them asked if they needed anything else, and Arnak replied that they were fine, realizing only at her puzzled look that he had spoken in Gerudo, the language he had been using for the last few minutes.

"We're fine, thank you," he repeated in Hylian, ignoring his daughter's snickering.

Their server smiled brightly. "All right then. Let me know if you need anything." She turned and walked over to another table, cheerfully asking its occupants if they would like a refill on their drinks.

"We're fine, thank you," Lynaka said in Gerudo, laughing.

Arnak pointed at her with one finger, pretending to frown. "Don't start."

She blinked innocently, adopting a _who, me?_ expression.

Arnak chuckled, still pointing at her as if to say _yes, you_. "I know half a dozen languages. I'm going to get them confused occasionally."

His daughter laughed. "Yes, that's it." She playfully pointed at him. "The gray hair has nothing at all to do with it."

Arnak shook his head, exaggeratedly sighing in annoyance. "Daughters!" he said in mock exasperation, grinning.

Lynaka laughed again, a happy sound he never got tired of hearing.

"Having a good time?" a familiar voice asked.

Arnak looked up to see Telma herself standing next to their table, a welcoming smile on her face. Aside from a bit of gray in her hair and a few laugh lines around her eyes, she looked exactly the same as she had the first time Arnak had met her.

"Oh, yes," he replied, smiling back.

Telma gestured for him to stand up. "Oh, come on, don't just sit there. Give me a hug!"

He obeyed, still smiling, and she slapped him on the back twice before she let go. Telma pulled over a chair from one of the few empty tables and sat down at their table, smiling at Lynaka before turning back to Arnak.

"Oh, I haven't seen you in years!" she said. "Where's your better half?"

"She had to stay home," he answered. "She's very busy."

Telma chuckled. "I don't doubt it." She turned to smile at Lynaka again. "Is this your daughter?"

Arnak nodded. "This is Lynaka, our oldest."

Telma extended a hand. "I'm very pleased to meet you, Lynaka." She laughed shortly as Lynaka shook her hand. "That's quite a grip you've got there. What brings you to Castle Town?"

"I'm on a mission from my mother," Arnak's daughter answered. "I am to research our people in the Royal Archives."

Telma nodded thoughtfully. "Shad can probably help you with that. He's been in charge of the Archives since before you were born." She laughed suddenly, turning to Arnak. "That reminds me, did you know he has a family now?"

"Oh?" said Arnak. "Who did he marry?"

Telma smiled. "He met a girl from a village out near Lake Hylia, and they must have really hit it off, because they were married within six months."

Arnak smiled himself. "Well, that's good."

His friend nodded. "They have three children, two boys and a cute little daughter."

Arnak grinned again. "How about the others?"

Telma leaned back in her chair, making it creak slightly. "Well, Rusl's still down in Ordon with his family, though he still comes up to visit from time to time. He has grandchildren now, you know. Ashei's still the Grand Marshal, which means she's in charge of the slaver wars. Link's with her most of the time."

"How is Link?" Arnak asked.

Telma shrugged. "Still fighting. Somebody should tell him he's not the Hero anymore, and not getting any younger, either. I still hear crazy stories about what he's doing down there. If it was anyone else, I'd think they probably weren't true."

Arnak fell silent, and Telma picked up on this. "They recruited you to fight for them once, didn't they?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yes." Pointedly, he changed the subject. "So, who is the Prime Minister now?"

"Still Auru," Telma replied. "He has to be past ninety by now, but you wouldn't guess it to look at him. I swear, he's the only one of us who hasn't aged in the last twenty years."

Arnak chuckled, looking up as the door to the tavern opened and two people walked in, a man and a woman.

Both were in their mid-forties, hints of gray in their hair, but otherwise, both Shad and Ashei looked much the same as the last time he had seen them, almost ten years ago. Shad had grown a beard, which he kept neatly trimmed, and he wore a finely made suit that made it obvious he was a librarian and scholar. Ashei wore a Hylian Army uniform cut in a severe style, absent of decoration except for a bit of gold at the collar and on the cuffs that signified her rank. She wore a sword at her hip, making her the only other person in the tavern besides Arnak and his daughter who was armed.

Telma waved them over, and they pushed another square table against Arnak's, smiling as he made introductions and told his daughter a bit about how he knew them.

"I didn't know you were back in the city," Telma said to Ashei. "When did you get back?"

"Yesterday afternoon," Ashei replied. "I have a month's leave before we set off for the next slaver city. Link's in command while I'm gone, and frankly, he's the only one I trust to take charge of the war besides Viserys." She shook her head amusedly. "We keep taking their cities, and they keep running off to move into new ones. We've been at this for almost ten years, and we still haven't gotten rid of them all. Just when we think we've freed the last of the slaves, we get word of another city they've moved into."

Shad sighed. "It's been their economy for centuries. We're not going to overturn that entire region overnight, not with everything else we're committed to doing."

Ashei nodded, turning to Arnak. "You've been out of touch for a few years, haven't you? Did you know about that war over in Calatia?"

Arnak nodded. "Yes, I did. Link told me about it when he came to ask for my help in the first part of the slaver campaigns. We still see troops crossing back and forth at the northern part of the desert often."

Telma set her mug down on the table with a loud _bang_, looking around at the others. "All right, enough talk about war." She gestured to Shad. "Maybe you can help Lynaka here with a mission she's here on from her mother."

Shad smiled at Arnak's daughter. "Certainly. What can I do for you?"

"The Matriarch wants me to research the Blood Curse in the Royal Archives," Lynaka replied. "Do you know if you have anything on it there?"

Shad frowned thoughtfully. "Well, I'm not personally familiar with the subject, but the Archives have manuscripts dating back almost to the First Hero, and we've greatly expanded them with the aid of the Oocca, who've kept their own archives over the millennia. I'm sure we have something you will find useful."

Lynaka inclined her head respectfully. "Thank you. I will be wanting to begin my research as soon as possible."

Shad nodded. "If you come to the Archives tomorrow at about nine o'clock, I can help you look through the index for any volumes you might need."

"Thank you," Lynaka said again.

Arnak and his friends spent most of the rest of the evening talking, recalling the adventures they'd had when they were younger and catching up on what they'd been doing since the last time they'd seen each other. As it usually did for most who'd been part of the Oocca War, the conversation turned to 'Link stories', each trying to top the other with something incredible they'd seen the Hero do. Arnak noticed his daughter was fairly quiet, responding only when asked a question, and she seemed bored, though she was doing her best to hide it.

He didn't blame her; she hadn't been there for anything they were talking about, and didn't know any of the people they referred to, either. Still, he was glad she remained polite and respectful.

As the evening wound down, they each eventually decided to retire for the night, and Telma offered Arnak and his daughter her spare room, which they accepted. Tomorrow would likely be an eventful day.

---

* * *

Author's Note: This story is a sequel to an earlier story of mine, _'The Fourth Piece'_, which was itself a sequel to '_Twilight Princess_', and though it can stand as its own adventure, it is a continuation of both tales. It will be long, at least novel-length, and intricately detailed and complex. I've become somewhat known for my twisty plots, and this will be no exception. ;)

I look forward to sharing more of this story with you, so I hope you enjoy the ride!


	2. Making Friends

Two

The next morning, Lynaka and her father had breakfast with Telma, and then she set off for the Royal Archives, not exactly looking forward to spending the day among rolls of dusty scrolls and manuscripts. But, it was what her mother -and ruler- had told her to do, and so she would do it.

She had just entered the central square, headed for the archway at the northern end that led to the castle, when she heard someone call her name. She turned, expecting her father, but she saw instead Daskin, the young man she had met yesterday, waving to her from next to the fountain.

Lynaka sighed and stopped walking, waiting for him to come over to her. He grinned widely as he approached, running one hand through his tousled reddish-orange hair in an attempt to straighten it.

"Hey!" he said cheerfully as he drew closer. "Where're you headed?"

"The castle," she answered. "I'm starting my research."

Daskin put his hands in the pockets of his jacket, gesturing with an elbow up at the gleaming white building. "Let's go, then."

Lynaka raised an eyebrow. "I thought you didn't like libraries."

He shrugged. "Eh, they're all right. Some of the books have interesting pictures."

Lynaka chuckled shortly. "I'm not looking for picture-books."

Daskin shrugged again. "Whatever. Let's go."

The Gerudo warrior set off up the long stone ramp that led up to the castle gates, her companion walking behind in a fairly relaxed posture that Lynaka could see right though. Though he tried to disguise it, Daskin seemed tense for some reason.

They were stopped by two spear-wielding guards at the gate, dressed in uniforms prominently featuring the red Hylian phoenix and wearing helmets that hid their eyes.

"State your business," one of them said, his tone bored.

"I wish to do research in the Royal Archives," Lynaka replied. "The Chief Archivist is expecting me."

The guard on the right shifted his spear from one hand to the other. "Oh, yeah. You're that Gerudo girl he mentioned. Go on inside."

The guard on the left shot his companion a dirty look under his helmet. "I'm going to have to ask you to leave your weapons here," he said to Lynaka. He gestured to Daskin with the hand holding his spear. "Is he with you?"

Daskin grinned. "I sure am!" he said cheerfully.

Lynaka squashed the urge to roll her eyes and sigh. Instead, she unbuckled her sword belt and handed her scimitar to the guard, Daskin doing the same next to her.

"Be careful with my sword," he told the guard. "A beautiful lady gave it to me when I saved her life."

Lynaka smirked. "I thought you said her husband gave it to you."

He shrugged. "Same difference."

One of the guards opened the massive wooden door behind him, gesturing for them to follow him. "I'll take you to the Archives. Follow me."

The guard led them through the palace gardens, guiding them to one of the other wings of the castle. Lynaka took the time to look around, marveling at all the green. There was nothing even approaching this back in the desert, where plants were limited to a few scraggly bushes and the occasional palm tree at an oasis.

Daskin just looked bored.

They followed the guard through the richly appointed passageways of the castle to the archives, past many suits of armor and displayed swords. The wide, white halls were also lined with paintings and tapestries, a few of which caught Lynaka's attention as depicting events her parents had told her about.

Finally, the guard stopped outside a large set of double doors and indicated them with a wave of his hand. "Here we are," he said. "The Chief Archivist should be able to help you."

Lynaka thanked the guard, and Daskin waved at his back as the man walked away, returning to his post.

The two of them stepped inside the Archives, and Lynaka looked around at the massive room, lined with seemingly endless shelves of books and scrolls. A few skylights provided illumination, beams of light shining down among the shelves and illuminating dust specks floating through the air, but the enormous library was mostly lit with lanterns, mounted well away from the shelves. The bottom portion of most shelves was made of stone, becoming wood as they stretched toward the ceiling. With all the dry, brittle paper in the expansive library, Lynaka understood the precautions against fire.

Lynaka recognized Shad, who sat at a desk in front of the doors, a book open in front of him. The archivist looked up at their footsteps and smiled, standing to move around his desk toward them.

"Hi there," Daskin said casually, looking around at the shelves. "We're here to look at books."

Lynaka ignored him, stepping forward to shake Shad's proffered hand. "Thank you for helping me," she said. "Do you have any suggestions as to where I should start?"

"Er, yes," said Shad, casting a curious glance at Daskin, who was now leaning lazily against Shad's desk, balancing a letter-opener on the tip of his finger.

Lynaka waved her hand dismissively. "Don't mind him. I met him yesterday and he decided to come along."

"Ah, I see," said Shad, frowning slightly. He turned back to her. "I looked through the index, and it appears that most of the volumes we have on your people are down that aisle there." He pointed to a massive bookcase near one end of the room that bore a Hylian letter 'G' on a metal plaque mounted on the front.

"Thank you," Lynaka said, nodding respectfully.

"Yeah, thanks," said Daskin, tossing the letter opener back down onto the desk with a loud _clang_ that echoed slightly in the cavernous room.

Shad frowned at him again, but turned back to the Gerudo warrior. "I'll be at my desk if you need anything else. I hope you find what you are looking for."

Lynaka thanked him again and set off down the aisle, frowning amusedly at her companion as he followed her.

"You don't have to be so rude, you know," she told him, glancing at the titles lined up on the shelves.

"Yeah, I do," he replied flippantly, pulling a book off a shelf with one finger and letting it drop before catching it to toss it to his other hand, flipping it through his fingers before he replaced it on the shelf.

Lynaka sighed, blowing air out through her teeth. _Idiot_, she thought, amused despite herself.

They walked to the end of the aisle, scanning the titles of the books, until Daskin stopped and laughed triumphantly, pulling a book off the shelf to hold out to her.

_'Gerudo Myths and Legends'_, the title read. It was small and fairly thick, bound in red leather with the title embossed in silver on the cover.

Lynaka shook her head. "I know the legends of my people. All they say is that the Blood Curse was put upon our people by a powerful sorcerer centuries ago after our first king refused to help him in his conquest."

"Blood Curse?" said Daskin, looking at her questioningly.

Lynaka sighed, debating whether or not to tell him. She decided to go ahead. "As I said, the Gerudo were cursed by a sorcerer, and because of the Blood Curse, only one male Gerudo is born every hundred years. The task the Matriarch has given me is to find some way to break it. Our last king was Raneses, and he did not father any children. Thus, no pure Gerudo have been born since Ganondorf's daughters. If we do not break the Blood Curse, we will cease to exist as a race in only a few generations."

To his credit, Daskin refrained from making any flip remarks, as she had expected him to. Instead, his expression was serious, the first time she had seen it that way.

"That's…" He paused. "That's a pretty serious mission."

She nodded sharply. "Yes, it is."

Daskin sighed, blowing air out through his lips as he looked up at the towering shelves around them. "Okay, so where do you think something about that would be?"

Lynaka shrugged helplessly. "I have no idea. I am probably going to have to spend several days just looking for the relevant volumes."

"Perhaps I can help you," said someone behind them.

Lynaka turned to see a young Hylian woman of perhaps twenty with long dark red hair standing at the end of the aisle. Her dress was of fine quality, a light shade of blue. Lynaka thought her a noble's daughter here doing research on her family or something similar.

"Yes?" Lynaka said, turning to face her.

The young woman took a few steps forward, a friendly smile on her face. "I don't mean to intrude, but I've been doing some research of my own on the Gerudo, and I overheard your conversation."

"It's rude to eavesdrop," said Daskin, still looking at the books.

Lynaka glared at him. "Be quiet." She turned back to the young woman. "What have you been researching?"

She paused for a moment. "The Blood Curse, actually. My mother requested I search the Archives for any relevant information, and I've been doing so for the last several weeks."

Daskin looked at the new arrival curiously. "Why would a Hylian be researching the Gerudo Blood Curse?"

The young woman bowed slightly. "Forgive me; I should have introduced myself earlier. I am Princess Zelda. My mother, the Queen, wants me to help the Gerudo find a way to break their curse as a gesture of friendship."

Daskin bowed formally at the waist, his manner entirely different now that he knew who the young woman was. "Please forgive my earlier rudeness, Your Highness. It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance. I am Daskin, and this," he gestured to the Gerudo warrior, "is Lynaka."

Lynaka also bowed, touching one fist to the opposite shoulder in a gesture of respect. "I would be glad to hear any information you have found," she said. She gestured to the nearly endless shelves around them. "I have to admit that I'm not quite sure how to get started."

Princess Zelda smiled wryly. "Let me save you some trouble; the manuscripts you and I are both looking for are not here. I know they exist because I've seen their titles in the index, but they're simply not in the Archives. Books that old are not allowed to leave the Archives, so I know they haven't been checked out by someone."

Lynaka frowned. "What are these books?"

Zelda gestured to an empty space on the shelves, which was coated with a thick layer of dust. "They would be the official chronicles from about a thousand eight hundred years ago, the first instance I can find in the other histories of our two peoples meeting. These particular volumes were specifically on the Gerudo, recorded firsthand at around the time the Blood Curse is thought to have gone into effect."

Lynaka paused in thought for a moment. One thousand eight hundred years ago would be… "Raneses the Great," she said suddenly.

Daskin raised an eyebrow. "Wasn't Raneses the fellow who tried to conquer the world a few decades ago?"

Lynaka shook her head. "No, he isn't who I'm talking about. Raneses the Great was the first king of the Gerudo. He united the warring clans and brought us together. He is thought to be the king who was cursed when he refused to help a sorcerer conquer Hyrule."

Zelda nodded. "Yes, I've found several mentions of him in the other chronicles. He nearly went to war with Hyrule when our king at the time insisted the Gerudo stay away from Lake Hylia, which was then in their territory. Raneses the Great conquered most of the Great Western Desert and had expanded his territory into what is now southern Lanayru Province."

Daskin frowned thoughtfully. "Then why would he refuse to help this sorcerer conquer Hyrule? Wouldn't he get the lake if he did?"

Zelda spread her hands. "I do not know. I have asked that question myself, but there simply isn't enough information to provide a concrete answer."

"You mentioned some missing books," said Lynaka. "Do you think the answer we seek is in them?"

Zelda nodded. "I'm sure of it. Every other line of research I've pursued has led me right back to the missing volumes. Today I was searching to see if any of them have been misfiled, but so far I have had no luck."

Daskin reached over and idly drew a Hylian letter 'D' in the dust on the empty space on the shelf. "Do you think someone took them out deliberately?" he asked. "Somebody trying to make sure the curse doesn't get broken?"

Lynaka frowned as another idea came to her. "Just the opposite," she said, looking up at Zelda. "I think they were taken by someone who _was_ trying to break the curse."

Zelda nodded. "Ganondorf."

Lynaka nodded sharply. "Exactly. He conquered this kingdom more than a century ago and spent seven years ruling it. Every king since Raneses the Great has sought a way to break the Blood Curse, and Ganondorf was no exception. From a few of the stories I've heard about him, he once claimed that he was close to finding the way to end the curse just before the Hero of Time defeated him."

The Hylian princess clasped her hands behind her back. "Then it appears there is nothing further we can do. There is no way to know what Ganondorf did with the volumes if he took them."

Lynaka snapped her fingers as another idea came to her. "Yes, there is!" She looked at her companions, growing excited as she thought about it more. "Ganondorf used a Zuna pyramid not far from the Arbiter's Grounds as one of his fortresses. My father went there with the Hero during the Oocca War. It's where he first met my mother, actually, but that's beside the point."

Zelda nodded, her own expression growing excited. "Yes, my mother has told me about this! She and the others accompanying the Hero pursued one of their enemies there, the Antihero, if I'm not mistaken." She looked over at Lynaka with a curious expression. "Who is your father?"

"His name is Arnak," the young warrior replied. "He bore the Triforce of Power during the war. My mother is the current Gerudo Matriarch."

Zelda smiled. "Our parents battled both of the Dark Lords together. Strange that we have never met before."

"I hate to interrupt," Daskin said, a trace of impatience in his tone, "but you were saying something about a pyramid?"

Lynaka glared at him, but her expression softened when she saw that he was clearly uncomfortable about something, though he was trying to hide it.

"Oh, yes," said Zelda, disrupting Lynaka's thoughts. "According to my mother, she wasn't with the Hero and Lynaka's father the first time they fought the Antihero at Ganondorf's pyramid, but in talking to them, she thinks she knows why the Antihero went there. Ganondorf was supposed to have stored a number of his writings at this particular fortress of his, and the creature wished to consult them in regards to the Triforce of Shadow, which he possessed at that time."

Lynaka nodded, ignoring Daskin's questioning look. "Ganondorf might have left his research on the Blood Curse there with his other writings."

"Or," Zelda said thoughtfully, "he may have left them at the fortress several hundred miles north of the Gerudo Desert, where our parents fought the Dark Lord Raneses in their final battle with him."

Lynaka grinned excitedly. "Yes, Ganondorf used that fortress first before Raneses took it over. His research could be there, too."

Zelda clapped her hands together once. "We must go to both places to look for the Dark Lord's writings."

" 'We'?" said Daskin. "Why are you going with us? Don't you have… princess duties or something?"

Lynaka turned to look at Daskin, raising an amused eyebrow. "Who said you're coming with me?"

He looked genuinely surprised. "I'm not?"

"This _is_ one of my 'princess duties', as you put it," Zelda said, a trace of amusement in her voice. "My mother requested I devote my attention to it until I compiled enough information to send to the Matriarch. I am going to see this through."

"Thank you," Lynaka said. "I would be very grateful for your help."

Daskin touched her arm. "Wait, are you really not going to let me come along? I'm just getting interested in this little adventure!"

Lynaka attempted to restrain a smile. "What, exactly, would you be able to contribute besides smart remarks and rude behavior?"

"I'm pretty good with a sword, Your Highnessness!" he replied indignantly. "Have you two ladies forgotten where you're going? Who knows what you're going to find in places where a couple of Dark Lords used to hang out?" Daskin crossed his arms over his chest. "It just wouldn't be gentlemanly to let ladies like yourselves go off to a creepy dungeon unescorted."

"It's a good thing you're not a gentleman then," Lynaka said teasingly.

Daskin put on such a comically exaggerated expression of outrage that she couldn't help but laugh.

"All right, I take it back," Lynaka said, still laughing. "I don't think we'll need protection, though. My father may come with us."

Daskin tugged on the lapels of his jacket. "Good. It'd help to have another person who's been there along. I gotta warn you ladies, though. I didn't find much when I went there a couple years ago."

Lynaka looked back at him, surprised. "You've been to Raneses' fortress?"

Daskin grinned broadly. "I sure have. I'd heard stories about the Dark Lord from my mother, and I figured he was loaded, so I went to see if there was anything left of his loot." He shrugged. "There wasn't, at least, not that I found. Makes a great story, though." He waggled his eyebrows comically. "Sometimes the fortress is haunted when I tell people about it."

Lynaka smirked amusedly. "Sure. Okay, you can come with us. You may be useful for something."

Daskin grinned again. "I'm useful for all sorts of things," he said.

Zelda smiled. "Come, we'll go talk to my mother about this. She may have other suggestions about where we can look."

Daskin grinned, nudging Lynaka's arm with his elbow. "All right! It's not every day you get to meet the Queen. How's my hair?"

Lynaka frowned at him. "Try to restrain yourself. She's not someone to make smart remarks to."

"Mother _is_ very forgiving," Zelda offered.

Lynaka gestured to Daskin, who was now attempting to check his teeth in a gold plaque mounted on the end of one of the nearby bookcases. "Well…"

The princess laughed lightly. "Perhaps we should leave him here."

"I'll be good," Daskin said, turning around and straightening his shirt under his jacket. "A perfect gentleman."

"It'll be a first," Lynaka said, smirking.

Daskin pointed a finger at her. "Oh, we don't know each other well enough for you to be saying things like that about me." He grinned. "Yet."

Lynaka let out a comically exaggerated long-suffering sigh as Zelda laughed.

"Come," the princess said. "I'll take you to my mother."

---

* * *

---

The Queen was in one of the royal gardens with, as it turned out, Lynaka's father. They were sitting under a shady tree on a bench, talking about the war they had fought together. Two Hyrule Soldiers stood nearby, with a thin man in dark clothing almost invisible in the branches of the tree overhead.

The Gerudo warrior studied the monarch as they drew closer, having never seen her before. Queen Zelda was in her early forties, just a hint of gray in her long brown hair that gave her an added air of dignity. She wore a white gown accented in red and gold, the Royal Family's crest embroidered on the front. A beautifully made crown prominently featuring the Triforce symbol sat atop her head, the gems set into its band sparkling in the sunlight. She smiled as she saw her daughter approaching, looking over at Lynaka and Daskin with polite curiosity. The bodyguards, especially the one up in the tree, also looked over at them, their expressions not exactly unfriendly, but not welcoming, either.

"Hello, Mother!" Princess Zelda said as they stopped in front of the bench. She gestured to her companions as both bowed respectfully. "I met Lynaka and Daskin here in the Royal Archives. They are also researching the Blood Curse."

The Queen smiled welcomingly at Lynaka. "You must be Arnak's daughter. He was just telling me about you."

Lynaka touched one fist to the opposite shoulder, bowing slightly again. "It is an honor to meet you, Your Majesty," she said.

"I am also deeply honored, Your Majesty," Daskin said, actually sounding dignified and polite. "Her Highness has kindly offered to help us in our research, and we are very grateful for this."

The Queen nodded in acknowledgment, a hint of curiosity in her expression. "Yes, it is a matter I asked her to look into. I do not believe I have had the pleasure of your acquaintance, Daskin, though you do seem somewhat familiar to me."

Lynaka glanced over at Daskin, who seemed to be ever so slightly nervous but trying to hide it.

"Perhaps Your Majesty is thinking of someone else." he said.

The Queen's face was neutral, hiding what she was thinking. "Perhaps," she said.

Arnak was also studying Daskin, though he said nothing. Lynaka could see a slight hint of suspicion in her father's expression. She became slightly more interested in her new friend. What was he hiding, if anything?

"Mother, Lynaka and I have a theory as to where the missing volumes from the Archives may have gone," Princess Zelda said. Briefly, she told the Queen what she and Lynaka had come up with, outlining their intention to go search Ganondorf's fortresses.

The Queen was silent a moment, looking at the three of them. Finally, she nodded slightly. "Very well," she said to Zelda. "You may go, but take your bodyguards with you. Both Dark Lords have been dead since before you were born, but they may have left traps or monsters behind. Be careful."

"I will, Mother," the princess said.

Lynaka silently met her father's eyes. He nodded, also.

"You are an adult now, Lynaka," he said simply. "I trust you to make responsible decisions."

Princess Zelda smiled at the Gerudo warrior. "Excellent! We should begin as soon as we can. Shall we set off tomorrow morning?"

Lynaka nodded. "That sounds fine."

They bid farewell to the Queen and Arnak, following Princess Zelda, who offered to have the royal chef make them lunch.

---

* * *

---

As Arnak watched as his daughter and the Queen's leave, the former Bearer of Wisdom looked over at him, indicating their children's companion.

"That man is hiding something," she said. "It is not threatening, and he bears no ill will toward either of our children, but he is keeping something important to himself. I could not sense what."

Arnak recalled that Zelda had been gifted with the powers of the Triforce of Wisdom as reward by the Goddesses after she, Link, Midna, and himself had defeated Ganondorf by joining the Triforce as a whole. Though she no longer bore the Triforce of Wisdom, its powers had stayed with her.

"If he does present a threat, Lynaka will be able to deal with him," Arnak said. "He knows the ways of battle; I could tell that much from his walk, but not even her mother can best Lynaka with the blade. She has a natural talent with the sword, just like the man she is named for."

Queen Zelda smiled slightly. "She looks just like Nabooru. I found her to be a very polite and well-mannered young woman. You must be proud of her."

Arnak smiled himself. "We are. Her and her sister both." He leaned back to look up at the towering structure of Hyrule Castle, noticing a red banner with a black crowned eagle flying below the Royal Family's flag on the tower that contained the royal apartments. "How is your husband?" he asked.

The Queen nodded once. "He is well. His brother the Emperor sent me a request for more Hyrulian troops the day before yesterday. It seems Calatia is having a border dispute with one of its neighbors again."

Arnak frowned. "The Emperor is starting another war?"

Zelda matched his frown, her opinion of the Prince Consort's brother clear. "The third since he ascended the throne. He does not have his father's talent for diplomacy, so he conquers instead. And because my daughter is his niece and our countries are formal allies, I must support him."

Arnak smiled wryly. "You said yourself at your coronation that your reign would not be an easy one."

Queen Zelda laughed lightly. "It hasn't been, but at least Hyrule has been at peace for most of it. The troubles I have to deal with are all far away from here. The slavers are all but eradicated, and I have forged alliances with almost all of Hyrule's neighboring countries. Hyrule is indeed entering a golden age, and I hope it continues into my daughter's reign and into her children's as well."

Arnak smiled. "It will; I'm sure of it."

Zelda looked over at him. "It has been good to talk with you, Arnak. Are you going with your daughter to explore Ganondorf's pyramid?"

He shook his head. "No, I will let her do this herself. It is time to let her have her independence, and unless she asks me, I will not bring it up. She can take care of herself now."

The Queen looked off at the door their daughters and Daskin had taken into the castle. "I am sure of it, but I will still send my daughter's bodyguard Impa along." She turned back to look at Arnak. "She is Erik's niece. I didn't know myself until she told Zelda one day when she was talking about the war."

Arnak nodded slowly, remembering the Sheikah warrior who had fallen during their quest against Raneses.

Queen Zelda stood, gesturing to one of the Hyrule Soldiers standing nearby. "Come," she said to Arnak. "I insist you and your daughter stay here at the castle tonight. You'll have dinner with us and we'll let our children get to know each other a little better before they leave tomorrow."

Arnak bowed slightly. "Thank you, Your Majesty. We would be honored."

---

* * *

---

Lynaka frowned at the castle servant. "No."

The slender young woman, about her age, frowned back. "It is bad enough that you've seen the Queen looking like this once already," she said indignantly. "The entire royal court will be present at dinner, and all guests must be presentable."

"I _am_ presentable," Lynaka retorted.

The castle servants had insisted that Lynaka and Daskin clean up and wear something a little more formal for dinner with the Royal Family, and the young warrior was perfectly willing to go along with this, but she was perfectly _un_willing to wear the ridiculous fancy gown this servant had picked out. It had _lace_ on it, for the Snake Goddess' sake!

The servant crossed her arms over her colorful dress. "You're hardly wearing anything at all!" she said, indicating the wide, angularly pattered strip of cloth that was all Lynaka wore over her chest, the typical garb of Gerudo warriors. "There are standards," the servant went on, "and it is my duty to see that all guests follow them!"

Lynaka used her greater height to adopt a slightly intimidating stance. "I am perfectly capable of dressing myself, thank you."

The servant did not back down. "You are not leaving this room unless you are wearing something suited to dining with royalty, young lady," she said.

Lynaka fought the urge to laugh. This servant could not be more than three or four years older than her.

"I will choose something suitable," she said. "But I'm not wearing a dress."

The servant threw up her hands, as if to announce _I give up_, and left the room in a huff, muttering to herself irritably.

Lynaka chuckled as she sat down and began unlacing her boots.

---

* * *

---

Daskin pulled at the starched collar of his shirt, positive the castle butler had deliberately found a formal shirt whose collar was slightly too small. Still, he couldn't exactly blame the man; he'd remarked on the man's thinning hair, after all, something the butler was apparently sensitive about. Why couldn't he keep his mouth shut at times like this?

He checked his fingernails, making sure they were clean, and looked in the mirror that hung on one wall of his dressing room, making sure his hair was straight. This was the first time he'd put more effort into his appearance than simply putting on his clothes and running a hand through his hair in a very long time.

Daskin sighed, momentarily wondering what he'd gotten himself into. He was treading dangerous ground here, he knew, bordering on lying to the others, and besides, with the crowd who would be at dinner, the subject of his father was bound to come up sooner or later, and that was something he preferred to avoid if at all possible.

Pushing these thoughts from his mind, Daskin adjusted his jacket, which was dark blue with light gray accents along the sleeves and collar, and declared himself ready. Opening the door of his dressing room, he stepped out into the wide, white hall to find himself alone with the servants who rushed through the halls. Apparently, just having dinner was a big production around here.

He looked across the hall to the other dressing room, hearing muffled voices in what sounded like a lively discussion, less than an argument but more than a friendly conversation, either.

Frowning, a pretty young servant emerged from the dressing room, holding the door open for the person who had been in there with her. Daskin's eyebrows rose in appreciation as Lynaka walked out, smirking to herself.

Instead of a formal gown, which he had been expecting, she wore dark blue silk trousers which were bound with a jeweled belt, soft slippers of the same material on her feet. A long bright blue ribbon had been braided into her hair, which hung past her waist, and she wore a sleeveless vest-type garment of the same color as her pants, which left her abdomen bare. An armband worked in gold, which she had been wearing before, rested above her left bicep, a necklace of similar style around her neck. Even the orange jewel she wore on her forehead had been polished, and it gleamed in the torchlight of the hallway.

Daskin grinned as she looked over at him. She looked very different than the first time he had seen her; much better, he thought.

He walked over to her and extended his elbow. She gave him an amused look, almost looking like she might refuse, but took it anyway, and they set off down the hall.

"You look very beautiful," he said, meaning it.

Lynaka smiled. "Thank you." The smile became a smirk. "So do you."

Daskin frowned, exaggerating it as he reached up to touch his hair. "I knew I shouldn't have let that guy put oil in my hair. Now I look like one of these sissy nobles that hang out here."

She didn't disagree with him, laughing as he realized this.

"Here I am trying to be nice," he said, feigning a hurt expression. "You don't have to make fun of me."

"Sure I do," she said, a twinkle in her eye.

He did not get a chance for a retort, because they arrived at the double doors to the dining hall just then, and they stopped as the guards posted outside snapped to attention. The butler who had earlier given Daskin his suit appeared and turned to them before he opened the doors.

"What is your title, sir?" the tall, thin man asked, his tone stiffly formal.

"Hmm?" Daskin said, a bit confused.

A mildly irritated look crossed the butler's features. "I have to announce you and your companion, young sir. I need to know your title."

Daskin realized that he had none, at least not one he wanted these people knowing about, and he wasn't really supposed to be here. He _wouldn't_ be here, except that he'd befriended the daughters of two countries' rulers.

_Lucky me, _he thought.

"What do you do for a living, sir?" the butler asked, ever so slightly exasperated.

"I, uh… travel," Daskin answered. He ignored Lynaka's smirk.

The butler nodded once. "Very good, sir." He gestured to the two guards, who opened the doors. The butler stepped inside the dining hall and announced, "Presenting Lynaka, daughter of the Gerudo Matriarch, and Daskin, Traveling Adventurer."

The two of them walked into the dining hall, which was long and wide, with high ceilings that featured expansive skylights. Currently, the dark night sky, shot through with innumerable pinpricks of light, hovered over the skylights, and the moon was visible at the far end, casting its silver light into the long room along with the numerous torches and candles.

A long table made of rich dark wood ran down the center of the room, lined on both sides by high-backed chairs of fine craftsmanship. It was the only table in the room, so Daskin realized that this was not the feasting hall, but instead something closer to a private dining room. Each side of the table had only half a dozen chairs, in front of which sat plates and silverware of similarly fine quality.

The Queen and her husband the Prince Consort, Grand Duke Renjamin of Calatia, sat at the head of the table, and Princess Zelda sat to their right, dressed in a dark red gown with a golden tiara resting atop her elaborately braided hair. An older dark-skinned man with white hair and a neatly trimmed goatee sat to the royal couple's left, his intelligent dark eyes glancing up at Daskin as he and Lynaka approached.

Lynaka's father sat to the man's left, his long hair bound back in a warrior's braid and his clothes of formal cut and fine quality, though the jacket was slightly too small for Arnak and stretched over his broad shoulders. A dark-haired, severe-looking woman sat next to Princess Zelda, dressed in a formal military uniform, and the Chief Archivist Shad, whom Daskin had met earlier that day, sat on Arnak's other side, completing the group dining with the Royal Family this evening.

Since it appeared the men were sitting on one side and the women on the other, Daskin sat down next to Shad, starting to pull in his own chair and starting when someone else pushed it in for him.

"Thank you," he said to the servant, and the man inclined his head in acknowledgment before stepping back to stand against the wall with the other servants.

The other guests engaged in light conversation as the servers brought out the first course, and Daskin waited, listening, before making any comments of his own. Through the conversation, he learned that the dark-haired woman was Ashei, the Grand Marshal of the army, and the older man was Auru, the Prime Minister. Apparently everyone knew each other, and they had all fought in the Oocca War. Except for Lynaka and Princess Zelda, Daskin was the youngest person at the table.

Partway through the first course, the Prince Consort Renjamin leaned forward slightly in his chair and looked over at Daskin, a curious look on his somewhat round face. The man was slightly older than the Queen, a bit of gray in his red hair, the same color as his daughter's, and he was a bit overweight, despite having once been muscular and handsome. Without letting the thought show on his face, Daskin smirked inwardly as he thought that the man probably didn't get out much. The Queen was the real power around here, and His Grace probably didn't have much to do.

"My daughter tells me you are helping her and Lynaka with their studies on the Blood Curse," the Prince Consort said. "Have you done your own research on the subject?"

"Ah, no, I haven't, Your Grace," Daskin replied. "I've done quite a bit of exploring on my own, and when I learned that Lynaka and Her Highness intended to go to the Dark Lord's fortresses, I offered to come along as protection, since I have been to the one in the north before." He grinned. "Can't be too careful."

Across from him, Lynaka surreptitiously rolled her eyes.

Renjamin smiled, nodding. "I used to explore the old passageways of the palace back in Calatia when I was younger, myself. My older brother was always too good for that sort of thing, though." He smiled again, a twinkle in his green eyes. He turned to Lynaka's father, sitting on Shad's other side. "My brother still speaks of you, Arnak," he said. "The last time we spoke, he said that he could use someone like you in his army."

Arnak put down his fork, attempting to hide a frown beneath his thick beard. "I mean no insult, Your Grace," he said, "but I do not agree with what the Emperor is doing. I was willing to fight alongside him during Raneses' siege of the capital, but I do not approve of the way he has conquered Calatia's neighbors."

Renjamin nodded. "No insult is taken. I don't agree with him either." He frowned concernedly, looking over at his wife. "Unfortunately, he keeps demanding Zelda provide him with troops, and we cannot refuse under the terms of the alliance between our countries."

The Queen nodded once. "That part of the treaty was his idea. I thought nothing of it at the time, as the provision is supposed to extend both ways."

"Still," said Prime Minister Auru, "the Emperor has sent troops to aid us in our efforts in the slaver wars, so at least he has honored his part of the treaty."

Grand Marshal Ashei frowned. "No insult to Your Grace, but the Calatians haven't exactly been very helpful to our campaigns down there. The general refuses to work with me and insists instead on pursuing his own campaign. Both Link and Viserys have attempted to request his aid as well, but he will only take orders from the Emperor."

Renjamin nodded resignedly. "That sounds like Belakar. He probably ordered his general to claim any cities my people's army conquers for Calatia." He smirked. "Anything to expand the empire. He won't rest until Calatia has territory in all parts of the world."

_Who's Viserys?_ Daskin mouthed across the table at Lynaka. She shrugged in reply, looking back over at the others.

Daskin tried hard to avoid looking bored, but he wasn't interested in politics and that seemed to be all the others wanted to talk about. He tried to feign attention through the next few courses, and was secretly relieved when Princess Zelda finally spoke up about her and Lynaka's mission.

"Arnak," she said to Lynaka's father, "since you have actually been to both Ganondorf's pyramid in the desert and his fortress in the north, I was wondering if there was anything you could tell me about them that could be helpful to your daughter and myself."

_And me_, Daskin mouthed to Lynaka. She smirked, but turned her attention to her father.

"I did not get much chance to explore either place," Arnak answered, "but both of the Dark Lord's fortresses had numerous booby traps. I would caution Your Highness to be alert, and to let your bodyguards go ahead of you."

Shad nodded. "I agree. I did not go to the fortress in the north, but I was with the Hero and Her Majesty when we went to the pyramid in the desert, and I am certain there are still some of Ganondorf's creatures about."

"Raneses made numerous additions to the northern fortress," the Queen said. "Be especially on your guard for traps there. Lynaka's parents and I fortunately had the Hero with us, and Link's experience with booby traps and exploration proved very useful." She smiled at her daughter. "Fortunately, the most dangerous thing in that fortress when I went there has been dead for twenty-five years."

Daskin worked very hard on not letting his facial expression change. He had known this was going to happen. He repeated over and over in his mind that as far as the rest of the table knew, he knew next to nothing about all this, and he didn't want that impression changing.

Princess Zelda nodded gravely. "I will be careful, Mother," she said.

Then the conversation returned to politics, and by the time he'd finished his dessert, Daskin was more informed about the situation of the world than he'd ever wanted to be. He privately resolved to himself to never accept a position of responsibility; way too much to do.

After the meal was over, most of the others went off to talk some more, but Daskin found a quiet balcony overlooking the city and looked out at the night, listening to the subtle sounds of people still going about their business both behind him in the castle and in the city below.

He heard quiet footsteps approaching after a few minutes, and he half-turned to see who it was. As a pleasant surprise, it was Lynaka instead of some castle servant come to tell him he couldn't stand here, and she joined him on the balcony, resting her hands on its railing.

"Still planning to come with us?" she asked, looking out at the city.

Daskin shrugged. "Sure." He grinned at her. "Just don't make me go to any more fancy dinners, okay?"

She laughed lightly. "Deal." She looked over at him. "We're meeting at the west courtyard tomorrow morning. See you there."

"West courtyard," he repeated. "Got it. See you."

Lynaka smiled politely and left.

Daskin left for his room a few minutes later, looking forward to the next day.

---

* * *

Author's Note: I was going to wait a few more days before I posted this, but I decided to go ahead. I have up through Chapter 4 written at this point, and am currently writing Chapter 5, but since my laptop is being repaired(_again_) and I'm working off my flash drive, progress is a little slow. I'll be posting Chapter 3 on Thursday or Friday next week. Until then, thanks for reading!


	3. Departures

Three

"Nice."

Zelda smiled at Daskin, who had spoken. "Thank you. I received it as a gift for my sixteenth birthday."

Lynaka and her two new friends stood in a courtyard outside the west wing of Hyrule Castle, looking at a sleek, bird-shaped craft that sat in the center of the courtyard, gleaming in the early morning sunlight. It was painted in red, gold and blue, the Hylian Royal Family's colors, and the silver lettering near the bow said it was named _Phoenix._ If Lynaka tilted her head right, she could almost see how it was subtly painted to resemble the bird from which it took its name.

"I've never seen an airship up close before," Daskin said to the princess. "I see them flying overhead sometimes, but I've never gotten a good look at one."

Zelda took a few steps toward the _Phoenix_. "Lord Viserys had it specially made for me. He gave my mother one, too."

"Who's Viserys?" Daskin asked, strolling over to touch one of the propellers mounted under the wing of the craft. His light blue shirt was half untucked underneath his dark jacket, but Lynaka thought this could perhaps be deliberate.

Lynaka knew who Viserys was from her parents' stories about the war, but she remained silent, studying the airship.

Princess Zelda walked over to join the young man, running a hand along the wing of her craft as she did so. She wore a matching jacket and pants in dark red, a white blouse underneath, and knee-length black leather boots.

"Lord Viserys is the leader of a nation of former mercenaries who allied himself with my mother during the Oocca War," Zelda said. "He has been a strong ally of my mother ever since, and his people are taking over the governance of the captured slaver cities, since they had no permanent home before the war."

She patted _Phoenix_'s wing. "His military's strength relies on airships, which he had been using for shipping but converted for war once Raneses' invasion began. His people are experts in aerodynamics, and they remain the only ones capable of building airships for now."

Zelda turned and smiled at them. "He is also going to be my father-in-law; I am engaged to his son Horys, who is with his father in the South right now. His older brother Aeron helped design the _Phoenix_."

Lynaka was surprised; she hadn't known Viserys had children, though it had to be admitted that her father hadn't known the Mercenary King all that well. She doubted Arnak had seen Viserys since the end of the Oocca War.

"Congratulations on your engagement," she said, and Zelda smiled again as she thanked her. Lynaka had to smile herself. She could tell by the princess' expression that this was no arranged marriage to solidify an alliance, like her mother's had been; Zelda really did love her fiancé.

Daskin tapped a blade of the propeller next to him with his knuckles. "Nice," he said again.

"Don't touch the propellers," a disembodied voice said.

Daskin glanced about suspiciously until a tall woman in dark clothing crawled out from under the craft. He jumped. "Where did you come from?" he said, surprised.

The woman regarded him with a stony glare, wiping her hands on a rag. She was almost the same height as Daskin, over six feet tall, and she was in excellent physical condition, with a muscular build. She appeared to be around thirty, and wore her platinum-colored hair in a long braid down her back. A short sword hung from her belt, simple in design but of high quality.

"Is the _Phoenix_ ready to go, Impa?" Zelda asked the woman.

The woman -probably a bodyguard, Lynaka thought- nodded once, glancing over at the princess. As she did so, the Gerudo warrior noticed her eyes were red, which made her a Sheikah.

"I loaded your bags before I started the pre-flight check, Your Highness," Impa said. "We can leave whenever you're ready."

"Thank you," said Zelda.

Impa nodded once, still eyeing Daskin suspiciously. He flashed his most charming grin at her, but it appeared to have no effect. Lynaka smirked as he deflated slightly at this.

Zelda turned to the Gerudo warrior. "Where do you want to go first?"

Lynaka looked west, in the direction of home, but the view was blocked by the high walls around the courtyard. "I think we should talk to my mother first before we go to Ganondorf's pyramid. She knows the area well from her raiding days, so she should be able to tell us about what we might expect there."

Impa snapping to rigid attention was Lynaka's clue that someone else had entered the courtyard. She turned to see Queen Zelda and her father approaching, looking at the _Phoenix_. Lynaka bowed, gesturing subtly in the Queen's direction when Daskin failed to do the same. His eyes widened when he spotted Hyrule's monarch, and he quickly bowed respectfully.

Arnak walked over to Lynaka and put an arm around her shoulders as the Queen spoke quietly to her daughter and Impa. Daskin remained where he was, slouching against the hull next to the propeller under the wing.

"Ask your mother if you can bring your sister along," Arnak said. "She could do with some time outside the desert."

"You're probably right," Lynaka said, looking up at her father.

He squeezed her shoulder, smiling under his thick beard. "I know I am. You should spend more time with Erike."

Lynaka raised an eyebrow, smiling slightly. "It's not an order, is it?"

Her father chuckled. "No, it isn't. I'd rather you did, though. It'd be good for both of you."

She sighed, feigning resignation. "All right, I'll ask Mother when we get there."

Arnak squeezed her shoulder again. "Good." He gestured at the airship. "Are you all ready to go?"

Lynaka nodded. "I think so. Are you coming with us back to the desert?"

Her father shook his head. "I'll come back in a few days with the horses. Let your mother know I'll be back soon."

Lynaka nodded again, chuckling as Daskin attempted to make conversation with Impa, receiving only indifferent silence in reply.

Arnak patted her shoulder, releasing her to step away. "Good luck, and be careful. As the Queen told you yesterday, the Dark Lord may be long dead, but that does not mean his fortress is not still dangerous. Keep your scimitar sharp and ready."

"I will, Father," Lynaka said.

Arnak smiled through his beard, trying to hide his pride, but not very hard. "Good luck, Lynaka," he said.

He stepped back, and the young warrior followed Princess Zelda aboard the _Phoenix_, looking at the interior as she stepped aside to allow Impa and Daskin through. She waved a farewell to her father as Impa closed the door, and he returned it, still smiling.

The colors were soft inside the princess' airship, and it projected a pleasant, comfortable atmosphere. At the front of the small craft was the cockpit, which had four seats, and just behind it was a long multi-purpose room, which acted as a small seating or dining area and the entryway to the small vessel. A door at the far end of the room presumably led to either bunks or storage space, and access to the engines that powered the propellers.

Impa locked the door behind her and went forward into the cockpit, where the Sheikah warrior sat at the controls. Zelda sat down in the chair next to hers. Lynaka took the seat behind the princess, adjusting her scimitar on her belt as she looked out of the wide, expansive windows that wrapped all the way around the cockpit.

Lightly, the _Phoenix_ lifted free of the ground, so gently Lynaka didn't notice they were moving until she realized the ground was dropping away beneath them. With a quiet rattle, the propellers engaged and the small airship started forward, increasing speed as it gained altitude.

Lynaka leaned close to the window, fascinated. She had never flown before, and it was an exhilarating feeling. Her mother had once told her that, with the use of the Triforce of Power, her father had been able to fly, and he'd flown with her once during the mission to the Dark Lord's fortress. She wondered if this was how it had felt, though she was shielded from the wind by the airship's hull.

Castle Town dropped away, the gleaming towers of the castle and the green fields of Hyrule quickly receding behind them. From this high up, Lynaka could see for miles, further than if she had been standing atop the tallest mesa in the desert. To the south, the thick forests of Faron Province stretched back out of sight, covering the gently sloping mountains off in the distance. To the east, behind them, she could see the towering cone of Death Mountain, a perpetual haze of smoke surrounding its summit.

Ahead, to the west, the vast sandy expanse of the desert Lynaka called home appeared to stretch on into infinity, interrupted only by the occasional mesa or rock formation. To the north, the imposing white peaks of the Snowpeak Mountains stood like silent sentinels along Hyrule's northwestern border, thick clouds gathered in a blizzard below the summits of the mountains, making them appear to be islands of rock in a sea of clouds.

Lynaka smiled to herself. Perhaps her sister's penchant for poetic description was rubbing off on her. It would not be so bad to have her along, she reflected. Erike's more quiet and serious demeanor would be a break from Daskin's incessant flippancy.

She looked over at the man sitting in the seat behind Impa. As she had expected, he was not so much seated as draped over the chair, his feet stretched into the space between Impa's chair and her charge's, his hands behind his head and his eyes closed in an apparent nap.

Impa asked for directions to the Gerudo city, and Lynaka leaned forward between the bodyguard and the princess as she navigated by the landmarks far below them, guiding the airship for the mountain against which the city was nestled.

In less than two hours, the _Phoenix_ traversed the same distance it had taken Lynaka and her father a day and a half to travel with their horses.

Daskin had apparently seen her impressed expression, because he leaned forward and said to her, "I wish I had one of these, too." He looked over at the princess. "How much do you think it would cost for one of these airships?" he asked her.

Zelda shrugged. "I do not know. Lord Viserys did not say how much it cost."

Daskin leaned back in his chair, waving one hand dismissively. "Out of my price range, probably," he said.

Lynaka made a show of looking him over. "Probably," she said teasingly.

"Hey!" he said, feigning indignation. She laughed.

"Can I land on the top of that building there?" Impa broke in, gesturing to the administration building at the center of the city.

Lynaka hadn't ever seen her home city from the air before, and she looked down at the spread of square-angled buildings contained within the high city wall for a moment before answering. Her people moved around the city on their errands and other business, looking oddly like ants from this high up. The sun gleamed off of weapons in the training courtyard, the flashes moving with dazzling speed as the masterful warriors there perfected their skills behind the high adobe walls. Lynaka could see several women pointing up at the shape in the sky that hovered over the city, talking to each other. Not far away, a group of children ran through the streets in a game of tag, but some stopped to look up at the _Phoenix_. One child took advantage of the distraction to tag her friend, and Lynaka smiled at this.

At a discreet cough from Impa, Lynaka returned her attention to the task at hand. "Sure," she said. "Let me call my mother first."

Reaching into her pocket, Lynaka pulled out her Communication Stone, a magical stone that enabled communication over long distances, and concentrated on her mother's corresponding stone.

"Yes?" her mother's voice asked after a few minutes. Lynaka quickly explained that she was in the airship overhead and that they would like to land on the roof of the administration building. Nabooru agreed, telling Lynaka she would meet her on the roof with her sister.

"Go ahead," Lynaka said to Impa, and the Sheikah warrior nodded once before manipulating the controls of the airship to begin their descent.

Once the _Phoenix_ had settled on the roof, Lynaka went back to the hatch and opened it, lowering the short ramp onto the rough adobe. Her mother and her sister Erike waited there, and she smiled as she walked down the ramp toward them.

Nabooru smiled back, but Erike did not. Not because she wasn't happy to see her sister; Erike just didn't show extremes in emotion much. At sixteen, she was a few inches shorter than Lynaka, with their father's dark brown hair and their mother's vibrant green eyes. The other Gerudo children had taunted her mercilessly because she was one of the few of the newest generation who did not share their race's usual bright red hair, and Lynaka thought this to be the reason she usually hid what she was thinking behind a mask of passiveness.

"I am ready to go," Erike said, indicating the bags at her feet. "Mother told me about her mission for you."

"Do you want to leave soon?" Nabooru asked.

"I'm ready to go when everyone else is," Daskin said from the doorway of the _Phoenix._ Impa pushed him out of the way, and he lightly jumped down the ramp to land next to Lynaka. He turned to Lynaka's mother. "A pleasure to meet you," he said to her. "I am Daskin."

Lynaka hid her amusement at Erike's faint look of annoyance. She had figured her sister would take an instant dislike to Daskin.

"Hello," Nabooru said politely. She looked past him to Zelda, who smiled as she emerged from her airship. "It is good to meet you, Your Highness," she said.

Zelda extended her hand to Nabooru, and the Matriarch shook it. "My mother speaks very highly of you," the princess said. "It is good to meet you as well."

"Perhaps Your Highness would like to see the city?" Lynaka asked, gesturing to the door that led inside the building.

Zelda laughed lightly. "Lynaka, we are going to be traveling together for quite some time. Just call me Zelda." She took a few steps away from her ship. "I would like to see a bit of the city before we leave, though. Thank you."

"May I take these?" Impa asked Erike, gesturing to her bags. Erike nodded, resting a hand on the scimitar at her side as she stepped away from her bags.

As Impa stowed the bags aboard the _Phoenix_, Lynaka and the others went inside the building, out of the already harsh desert sun.

---

* * *

---

"This building is the King's palace when we have one," the Matriarch said to Zelda. The princess nodded in interest, walking along with the Gerudo leader through the narrow, low-ceilinged halls of the administration building.

Daskin walked at the back of the group, watching the others and only half-listening to their conversation. He was eager to be off, traveling again and exploring the pyramid in the desert. He had seen it as they had flown in, along with the coliseum-like structure of the Arbiter's Grounds. He had no wish to go back to the former prison, and hoped to himself that none of these women he would be traveling with decided to go give it a look on their way to the pyramid.

Eventually, the group found themselves in the council chamber, and Daskin gave the portrait of Raneses a dubious look, turned away from the others as he examined it. Lynaka and her mother were talking to Princess Zelda about something he wasn't terribly interested in, something about a scimitar.

"How did you meet my sister?" a soft, quiet voice asked, startling him.

Daskin turned to see Lynaka's sister Erike standing behind him, her long brown braid draped over one shoulder as she idly toyed with its end, looking up at him with a mildly curious expression.

"We struck up a conversation in Castle Town," he replied. "We've sort of become friends since then."

"Why are you going with her on her mission?" Erike asked, virtually no trace of emotion in her tone, not even curiosity. Her eyes were ever so slightly suspicious, so little so that Daskin wasn't sure he saw anything at all.

He shrugged, adopting an easygoing grin. "It sounds like fun."

"I don't trust you," she said bluntly. Abruptly, she turned and moved to join her mother and sister.

Daskin frowned. "Nice to meet you, too," he said to her back. _Great,_ he thought to himself, _an ice queen. Won't this be fun?_

When he turned around to look at the portrait of Raneses again, Impa was standing in front of it, less than a yard away from him. Daskin jumped, and the bodyguard smirked.

She leaned forward slightly, her hands clasped behind her back. "I hope you aren't this jumpy when we enter the ruins," she said. "You can't expect me and Lynaka to watch out for everyone."

"I can take care of myself, thank you," Daskin said defensively. It dawned on him finally that he would be the only man in this little group, and since most of these women seemed eager to make fun of him, he began to have second thoughts about coming along.

Impa smirked again, making a show of not believing him. She brushed past him as she moved to join Princess Zelda, and Daskin frowned, feeling vaguely insulted by her whole attitude towards him.

Curious as to what the others were talking about, Daskin strolled over to the other portrait, which was closer to the group of women.

"I am not certain where it would be," Lynaka's mother was saying, "but the Nameless One did not leave the scimitar here. It must be in his fortress somewhere, and I would appreciate it if you would retrieve it. It is almost two thousand years old, and of great meaning to our people. It does not deserve to rest any longer in that monster's lair."

"Why did Raneses even have it?" Zelda asked.

"My people do not use crowns," Lynaka explained. "The scimitar is the badge of office for the ruler of the Gerudo. He was our legitimate king, so he claimed it when he announced his rulership."

"Where do you think he would have hidden it?" Impa inquired of the Matriarch. "Was it not in the throne room when you fought him?"

The Matriarch shook her head. "I looked for it after we defeated him, but we left shortly after the battle was over, so I did not see much of the fortress."

Lynaka straightened. "I will find it, Mother. It belongs in your possession, not his." She gestured at the portrait of Raneses on the far wall.

Zelda nodded once. "I would be honored to assist you." She looked over at the others. "We should leave soon. With luck, we can search Ganondorf's pyramid today and be to the fortress in the north by this evening."

Impa inclined her head and moved off toward the door, headed for the _Phoenix_. Daskin followed her, leaving Lynaka and her sister behind to say their farewells to their mother.

Once he found his way up to the roof and the _Phoenix_, Daskin shaded his eyes from the harsh desert sunlight as he approached the airship.

"Hey," he said to Impa, who was adjusting one of the propellers, "can I talk to you for a minute?"

"No," the bodyguard answered, not looking up from her task.

Daskin ignored this and pressed on. "Both you and Zelda know how to fly this thing, right?" he asked.

Impa grunted noncommittally, which Daskin took for a "yes" and so asked his next question. "Can you teach me to fly it, too?"

The Sheikah stopped and looked up at him incredulously, her expression silently asking him, _you're kidding, right?_

"No, I'm serious," Daskin said. "You should show all of us how to fly this thing, in case something happens to you or Zelda." He leaned against the wing. "Plus, you can't want to do _all_ the flying, can you?"

Impa straightened, wiping her hands on a rag she'd had tucked into the pocket of her pants. "Even if you were capable of flying this," she said, gesturing to the _Phoenix_ with her elbow, "which you aren't, I wouldn't trust you not to do something stupid."

Abruptly, she turned and stepped inside the airship, leaving him behind.

"Yeah, you've known me for three whole hours," Daskin said irritably. "You know me real well. Real cause for being such a-" he stopped himself as he heard footsteps on the roof behind him. "Grouch," he finished, using a different word than he'd originally intended. He turned to see Lynaka and her sister standing in the doorway, an amused expression on his friend's face and none at all on her sister's.

"Making friends?" Lynaka asked, smirking.

Daskin grinned. "Oh, yeah. I'm a people person, you know." He offered Erike a friendly smile as she passed him, but she didn't even look at him as she boarded the airship. He turned back to Lynaka. "See? Everybody loves me."

She laughed. "Don't mind her. She doesn't really like anybody. Just be nice, and she'll… tolerate you eventually."

Daskin shrugged, frowning amusedly. "Boy, this trip gets more fun all the time," he said with sarcastic cheerfulness.

Lynaka laughed again as she walked inside the _Phoenix_, and Daskin followed her.

---

* * *

---

A short time later, Impa set the _Phoenix _down in what had once been an impressive temple outside the entrance to the largest pyramid in a complex hidden in a basin lined by walls of rocky cliffs. Lynaka thought to herself that it was interesting that such large structures were only visible from this side of the desert, and were practically unnoticeable unless you were within a mile or so. Someone in the expanse of sand to the south that bordered Hyrule, where the entrance to the Arbiter's Grounds was, would be entirely unaware this complex was even here, seeing only massive rock formations.

As she emerged from the airship, one hand on her scimitar, Lynaka looked around at the pyramid complex. The sun hung overhead like a blindingly bright gem, making the steep walls of the pyramid seem to shine. The smoothly fitted stone stretched up like a frozen sunbeam, which was what she'd heard the original builders of these structures had intended.

"This is where Mother and Father met," Erike said behind her.

Lynaka nodded. She turned to her sister with an amused smirk. "She says she captured him here, though he didn't know what it meant at the time."

Erike smiled minutely. Gerudo traditionally captured their mates; the man often had little choice in the matter. This had not been the case with their parents, but it was a joke of their mother's that their father hadn't had any choice but just didn't know it.

Daskin planted one hand on the side of the door and vaulted out of the _Phoenix_ behind them, landing next to Lynaka with a broad grin. "Let's get exploring!" he said.

Zelda followed him in a more dignified fashion, but her expression was just as eager. "I, too, am interested to see what is inside," she said. "My mother often speaks of her experiences during the wars, and I have been eager to see some of the places she has spoken of for myself."

Impa said nothing as she emerged from the _Phoenix _and closed the door behind her. She merely checked her weapons and moved off, sharp eyes in constant motion on the lookout for threats.

With Impa in the lead, the small group set off across the short walk to the pyramid's entrance. The sand was loose and slippery underfoot, having accumulated deeply over the decades with no regular maintenance. As was typical of the desert, the sun overhead was harsh, almost blindingly bright, and the air was already almost uncomfortably hot. Lynaka and her sister were both used to it, and barely noticed the heat.

When they reached the pyramid's entrance, a large door surrounded by an intricately carved archway, Impa gestured with the smallest of smiles for Daskin to lift the heavy stone door. He made a show of cracking his fingers and flexing his shoulders before he bent and grasped the underside of the door.

Either Daskin was very strong or the door was aided by a mechanism, because as soon as he pulled up on the bottom of the door, it rose up smoothly with a rasp of stone on stone.

Daskin grinned at Lynaka. "Ladies first," he said, gesturing inside.

Zelda smiled amusedly, one hand on the rapier at her side. "A gentleman would make sure it was safe to enter," she said, and she laughed at Daskin's _I hadn't thought of that_ expression.

Lynaka shook her head amusedly as she walked past both of them into the pyramid. Ahead was a long, narrow tunnel made of stone, occasional torches mounted at about shoulder height. Off in the distance, she could see another door, but the light was dim in the tunnel and shadows pooled at the edges.

Once Impa walked through, taking up a rear-guard position now, the door at the entrance closed with a slow rumble, and the light filtering in from outside vanished. The torches flickered with a dull orange light, and once Lynaka got close enough to take a good look at one, she discovered they were of the magical ever-burning variety, which made sense, since a regular torch would have burned out long ago.

Their footsteps echoed slightly on the rough stone floor, and aside from their breathing, Lynaka heard no sound ahead. The ancient pyramid was as quiet as a tomb, almost unnervingly so. The walls were decorated with some kind of swirling Zuna design, though an angular Gerudo pattern was visible in a few places, perhaps added by Ganondorf.

As they reached the door at the far end of the hall, Daskin made his way forward and opened it, revealing another long stretch of hallway periodically lit by torches. They set off down this passage, and once they reached the end, they were presented with a choice in the form of two doors set at an angle at the end of the hallway.

"Which one do we pick?" Daskin said, moving to stand between the doors. "I don't think we have enough time to explore this whole place if we want to get to that other fortress by this evening."

"We split up," Lynaka said. She grinned teasingly at Daskin, gesturing to the other three women. "We'll take the door on the left, and you can take the door on the right."

Daskin frowned amusedly. "Yeah, I'm all for exploring part of this creepy old pyramid by myself," he said sarcastically. "You're just trying to get rid of me, aren't you?"

"That easy to tell, is it?" she replied, chuckling at his mock-offended look.

Zelda reached up to push a lock of her hair behind her ear, tapping the hilt of the rapier with the fingers of her other hand. "Impa and I will take the passage on the left," she said finally. "We can keep in contact through our Gossip Stones." She pulled out her own stone and held it up, and Lynaka reached over to touch hers to the princess', attuning them together.

Daskin rubbed his hands together. "Let's go, then," he said, moving for the door on the right.

---

* * *

---

Zelda and Impa moved through another series of hallways, looking for additional rooms, and it was almost ten minutes after the group split that they finally found another door.

Impa opened the door, and Zelda gasped at what she saw inside. It appeared to be some kind of torture chamber, filled with wicked-looking devices on which a few unfortunate skeletons still hung. Impa looked inside the chamber with disgust, one hand on her sword, and Zelda followed, feeling sick at what must have happened here. A flat stone table with leather straps at both ends was ominously stained, and Zelda felt her stomach sink as she realized that not all of the stains could have come from one person.

Impa moved among the racks and various grisly remainders quickly, looking around, and after only a few seconds she ushered the princess back outside. "There's nothing here, my lady," she said.

Zelda left the chamber quickly, all too eager to move on. After they were several steps down the hallway, almost to the next door, she turned to her bodyguard. "My mother mentioned meeting some sort of scientist who served Ganondorf in this pyramid, a man who apparently dissected corpses he found. Do you think that was where he…"

Impa shook her head briskly. "It's best not to think about it, my lady. Both Dark Lords were extremely unpleasant men. I prefer not to dwell on what they and their underlings did."

Zelda nodded slowly, remembering that the Dark Lord Raneses had killed Impa's uncle Erik. From what her bodyguard had told her, Impa had been only five years old at the time, but she remembered her mother's shocked reaction to the news very well, since it was the only time Impa had ever seen her mother cry.

As Impa reached the next door, she opened it and looked inside before moving in. Zelda looked past her bodyguard to see that the room was bare, small and largely uninteresting, having apparently been emptied quite some time ago.

"Storage," said Impa, kicking an empty wooden crate. "Let's keep moving."

Cautiously, the two of them continued on through the hallway.

---

* * *

---

"Hmm," said Daskin, idly tracing a letter 'D' in some dust on a bare spot of the wooden shelf he was examining. "I don't think there's much here."

Lynaka was inclined to agree. This was the third room they'd come across, and it was probably the least interesting so far. Large and square, it was lit by the ever-present torches, though these were contained in glass because a number of manuscripts littered the tables and shelves packed into the claustrophobic stone room. Lynaka had perused a number of them that could still be read, but they were largely either plans for conquests long abandoned or research into the genealogy of the Gerudo kings. None were on the subject of the Blood Curse, so she left them for a possible return later.

This room obviously hadn't been intended by the original builders to be a library or study, whichever this was, but Ganondorf had apparently converted it. If she had to guess, Lynaka would have said that the Dark Lord himself was probably the last person in here, judging from the relatively undisturbed condition of the room.

"I do not think the Accursed One used this fortress much," Erike said, nudging a pile of papers with the toe of her boot. "I have seen nothing yet which could have been of importance to him." She looked over at her sister. "I think it more likely that the fortress in the north is where we will find what we seek."

"Probably," agreed Daskin, kicking the leg of one of the chairs. Surprising all three of them, it collapsed, sending a pile of papers fluttering over the floor.

Daskin knelt to retrieve some of the papers, and as he did, Lynaka noticed a curious expression come over his features, his eyes locked on the bottom shelf of the bookcase beside him.

"What is it?" Lynaka asked, walking over to him. "Do you see something about the Blood Curse?"

Daskin did not reply, instead pulling one of the books off the shelf and silently handing it up to Erike, who had also come over to see what he was looking at.

"This is a genealogy," she said, sounding mildly confused. "We're not looking for-" She was interrupted as Daskin handed her another volume and another, leaning closer to the shelf.

As Erike moved off to deposit the armload of books on one of the tables, Daskin handed another three books to Lynaka, who set them aside, curious as to what he was doing now.

The young man removed his jacket and tossed it over another chair, leaning back over to examine the now-empty shelf. The pommel of his sword thumped against the side of the bookcase as he moved in closer, murmuring thoughtfully to himself.

"What is it?" Lynaka asked.

Daskin pulled back out and looked over at her, flicking a bit of his reddish-orange hair out of his face with his thumb. "Look here," he said, putting his hand inside the bookcase so that the tips of his long fingers pressed against its back.

"What?" Lynaka said, leaning over to look over his shoulder.

To illustrate his point, Daskin put his other hand on the outside of the bookcase, lined up with the hand inside. To Lynaka's surprise, the fingers of his other hand did not reach the back of the bookcase on the outside, instead stopping about three inches short of where they should have.

"A secret compartment?" she asked, receiving a quick nod from Daskin in reply. "What's in there?" she asked him.

"I don't know," the young man replied, leaning inside the bookcase again. "But it's got to be interesting if Ganondorf decided to hide it."

He grunted as he thumped the plank at the back of the bookcase, muttering to himself as he searched for the release point. "You got a dagger?" he asked, his voice muffled by his shoulder.

Lynaka withdrew the small knife hidden in her belt buckle and handed it to him. He grunted his thanks as his fingers closed over the tiny blade, and she heard him thumping and muttering to himself in a language neither Hylian or Gerudo.

"Be careful of traps," said Erike, standing behind him.

"A Dark Lord booby-trapping a secret compartment in his creepy pyramid fortress? Perish the thought!" Daskin replied, still muffled by the cramped quarters in which his upper half was crammed.

As Lynaka looked up at her sister, she noticed Erike's smirk, more amused than irritated. Perhaps he was growing on her as well, Lynaka thought.

Next, the young Gerudo warrior heard a few more thumps, followed by a click and an "Aha!" from Daskin. She heard him sliding something wooden aside, and then he emerged into the open once again, bearing a dirt smudge on his sleeve and an old, decrepit-looking book in his hands.

He opened it carefully and scanned a few pages, but after a moment he handed it up to Lynaka. "It's in Gerudo," he said. "I can't read this."

Lynaka took the book from him and looked at it. She recognized the written form of her native language, but she could not read it. "It's in code," she said. "And not one I recognize, either."

Just then, her Communication Stone buzzed, and she reached into her pocket to answer it. "Yes?"

"It's Zelda," the princess' voice said. "We've had no luck so far. How about you?"

Lynaka quickly described the book and its hiding place, mentioning the code.

"I'll take a look at it when we rejoin you," Zelda said. "I'm good with codes." Briefly, Lynaka heard muffled voices through the multifaceted stone in her hand before the princess turned back to her corresponding stone. "Impa says that she does not think we will find anything more here. We should head for the fortress in the north before the day grows much later."

"I agree," said Lynaka. "If need be, we can come back here at a later time."

"We'll meet you at the _Phoenix,_ then," Zelda said, her image in the stone nodding once before vanishing.

"Good idea," Daskin said, pulling his jacket back on. "I didn't really want to stay here much longer anyway. This place gives me the creeps, y'know? Too many dead people."

"What dead people?" said Erike, looking at the young man like he was attempting to play some kind of trick.

He grinned mischievously. "What, you're telling me you didn't notice our friends up there?" He gestured with his thumb over his shoulder at the bookcase behind him.

Lynaka looked up and noted a pair of skulls on the top shelf serving as grisly bookends, bearing jewels in the eye sockets.

Erike glanced passively up at the skulls and then left, her departing footsteps echoing slightly in the hall outside. Lynaka spared a last glance at the unfortunate bookends, wondering who they were and what they'd done to merit such an undignified last resting place, but the thought was quickly replaced by concerns about what else they would have to look out for in the next place they would be exploring and if they would even find what they sought at all.

Daskin closed the door behind them and they set off back in the direction of the entrance.

---

* * *

---

Later, once the _Phoenix_ was airborne and soaring above the tips of the Snowpeak Mountains, Lynaka and Zelda sat in the rear compartment of the airship, the book they had found in the pyramid open on a small fold-out table between them. Zelda was well-versed in Gerudo, having learned it as a small child along with her mother, but she could make no sense of the text, either.

"It's not backwards," Lynaka said, tapping a pencil against the piece of paper on which she was attempting to decode the manuscript. "And it doesn't seem to be using substituted letters, either."

The Hylian princess gently turned a few more pages in the manuscript, examining the scrollwork that bordered the text. All of the text was hand-written, probably by Ganondorf himself, and it appeared the scrollwork had been drawn in, as well. The manuscript had to be at least three hundred pages long, but the letters were perfectly spaced in a smooth, bold hand, so well-done that it had taken Zelda several pages to realize that it had not been printed.

"Stop," Lynaka said suddenly. Zelda looked up at her, curious, and the Gerudo warrior turned the book upside-down relative to Zelda's point of view, tapping a part of the scrollwork with her finger.

Part of the seemingly-decorative pattern formed a distorted Gerudo letter on the area Lynaka had tapped, and as she moved her finger to another part of the page, Zelda realized with growing excitement that another character was present, also.

"Go back to the beginning," Zelda said, pulling the pencil and paper across the small table to herself. Lynaka flipped the book back to the front cover, and both of them scanned the scrollwork for any disguised letters. They found several more letters, but when written in order, they formed no words Zelda recognized.

Over the next several hours, the two of them carefully scanned each page, writing down all the hidden letters they found, and by the time Impa announced that she could see a fortress off in the distance, they had filled both sides of the paper with a string of letters that formed no apparent words.

"I need a break," Lynaka said, leaning back to massage her temples with one hand.

"I agree," said Zelda. She set the pencil aside and got up to go forward into the cockpit.

A spectacular view greeted her through the expansive windows of the cockpit, like something out of a storybook. A storm-tossed sea thundered against a steep, forbidding cliff, bare brown and gray except for an occasional patch of moss. At the top of the cliff sat a grand, opulent fortress made of dark gray stone, all sharp angles and thick lines. The only apparent land route up to the fortress was crisscrossed with walls and towers, and though it was immediately obvious the place had been abandoned for decades, it still presented a menacing image, silently warning intruders away.

The sun had gone down at some point in the last few hours, and the fading light cast sharp shadows along the thick walls, making the fortress look gloomy and almost… spooky. Zelda shook her head, clearing away her silly superstitions. Both Dark Lords who had lived here had died long before she was born, and there was nothing to fear here but rats and unsprung traps.

"If it's okay with you girls," Daskin said from the copilot's seat, "I'd rather go through this place in broad daylight."

"No argument here," Lynaka said next to Zelda.

Impa pointed to a wide, flat area at the top of the cliff about half a mile away from the enormous fortress. "Shall we camp there tonight, Your Highness?" she asked, looking up at Zelda.

She nodded, eyes still drawn to the fortress. This was a place of great importance, setting to a number of significant events in history, and Zelda wondered if it would be the same way for her. What would she find here in the light of the next day?

---

* * *

Author's Note: My laptop still isn't fixed, so it'll probably be about a week or so before I post the next chapter. Until then, thanks for reading!


	4. Historical Significance

Four

The next morning, Daskin awoke to the sound of crashing waves and the tangy smell of sea brine mixed with the musty odor of damp moss. He blinked, disoriented as he slowly rose from the depths of sleep to full awareness, but as he caught sight of the sleek shape of the _Phoenix_, the young man remembered where he was. He'd traveled hundreds of miles in only one day thanks to Princess Zelda's airship, a feat few who did not have access to a flying craft could duplicate, save those who could teleport or who had wings naturally, like the Oocca.

_Lucky me,_ Daskin thought as he yawned, looking up at the cloudy gray sky. He _was_ lucky, he amended, putting his hands behind his head as he adjusted to being awake. He lay there for a moment, looking up at the clouds, and thought that few mortals could say that they had seen the world as birds saw it every day. But then again, he thought to himself dismissively, he had seen a lot of things few other mortals had.

As he sat up, the young man was confronted with the somewhat startling and more than a little disturbing image of a gigantic fortress perched on the edge of a cliff about half a mile away. Made of dark gray stone, it lurked behind a high wall, towers and spires poking up behind the barrier like outstretched fingers or the spines of some monstrous creature.

"That's a sight to wake up to," he said to himself, reaching up to run his fingers through his hair, which he absently noted would need washing soon. _Especially with all these girls around,_ he thought to himself with a smirk.

He smelled something cooking, an appetizing meaty smell, mixed with a few spices he couldn't name at the moment, and turned to see Zelda sitting over their campfire, stirring something in a large iron pot.

Daskin considered making a crack about how she usually had servants to cook for her, but decided against it. He didn't know her well enough to accurately gauge her reaction yet, and based on yesterday's events, he wanted to avoid irritating his companions any more than he had to.

Overhead, a brief trickle of rain spattered against the awning extending from the side of the airship, and combined with the cold air coming off the sea below, Daskin thought to himself that it had been a bad idea to sleep outside. But, as Impa had amusedly reminded him, he was the lone male in the group and the _Phoenix_ only had sleeping compartments for four.

"So guess who gets to sleep outside," he grumbled, grimacing as he stretched his aching back.

He poked his head inside the small airship, and through the open door at the rear of the compartment, he could see that one of the bunks was undisturbed, while the other three had rumpled sheets. Impa had obviously not used hers, as she had probably been keeping watch and skulking around all night.

Daskin scoffed. _It figures. Anything to make my life harder_, he thought with another smirk.

As the young adventurer turned back to pull on his boots, he suddenly heard a shouted challenge and the unmistakable clash of steel colliding with steel. He yanked on his remaining boot and seized his sword belt, hurriedly buckling it on as he looked around for the source of the disturbance. He stumbled as he shifted his foot inside his boot, and he cursed, thinking that the group was under attack.

Daskin dashed past the edge of the _Phoenix_, a dozen different scenarios swirling through his mind, and when he saw what was making all the commotion, he felt relieved and a little foolish.

On the other side of the airship, on a relatively flat area among the rocks, stood Lynaka and her sister, scimitars raised as they circled each other. Erike's expression was one of concentration, while Lynaka simply had a grin on her face.

"You're getting better," Lynaka said. Erike nodded once, then exploded into movement, her scimitar flashing in the early morning sunlight.

As Daskin watched, Lynaka twirled her scimitar through a graceful pattern, deflecting every one of her sister's strikes. She was clearly the better duelist, though Erike's skills were impressive, also.

Erike slashed diagonally, and Lynaka caught the strike on the edge of her curved weapon, but the younger girl suddenly dropped to swing her leg out in a sweep kick. Lynaka jumped over the kick, actually throwing herself into a full back-flip and landing a few feet away. As soon as she landed, Lynaka leaped forward, performing a handspring and coming out on her feet with her scimitar swinging, clashing against her sister's weapon four times in the space of only a second. Daskin's brows rose appreciatively at the display of skill.

Lynaka pressed forward, but Erike suddenly hurled herself to the side, rolling around behind her sister. As soon as Erike emerged from her roll, Lynaka whipped her scimitar behind herself and blocked her sister's slash, then twirled, spinning on one foot as she swept her other leg out in a kick. Erike ducked under the kick, her long brown braid whipping out with the speed of her movement. She stabbed with her scimitar, but Lynaka agilely twisted to avoid it, her own long red braid swinging out behind her.

Erike advanced again, but Lynaka suddenly jumped up on a small boulder next to her and flipped right over her sister's head, eliciting an astonished expression from Daskin. As soon as Lynaka landed, her scimitar flashed out and stopped, with perfect control, three inches from Erike's neck. She held the dull edge of the curved weapon toward her sister and tapped her shoulder with the flat of the blade.

"I win," Lynaka said, grinning. Erike nodded once, the slightest hint of a smile curving her lips.

"That was impressive," Daskin said, walking over to the sisters. "I'd heard Gerudo were good with the sword, but…" He grinned. "Wow."

Lynaka nodded in acknowledgment, smiling. "Thank you."

Daskin leaned against the boulder Lynaka had leaped from. "So," he asked her, "what all is involved in training for that sort of thing? It looks like it takes practice."

"It does," she replied. "Gerudo are trained to use a scimitar from the time they are old enough to hold one. Unarmed combat is also a large part of our training, and, as you saw, we sometimes incorporate this into sword-fighting."

Erike sheathed her scimitar, turning toward the two of them. "It is said few can best a Gerudo warrior with the blade," she said. "A few of the Hylians' Heroes came to our people for training at the beginning of their quests."

Daskin nodded. "I've heard that," he said. Interested in seeing how he matched up, he grinned at Lynaka. "Up for another round?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "With you?" she asked teasingly. "Are you sure you can handle it?"

Daskin smirked right back at her, removing his jacket. "I'm no Gerudo, but I know my way around a sword." He grinned teasingly. "The pointy end goes toward you, right?"

"Ten seconds," Erike said suddenly.

Daskin looked over at her. "Ten seconds what?"

The younger girl simply crossed her arms and stepped back, apparently fighting back a smile.

Daskin ignored her and drew his sword, tossing his jacket over one of the rocks nearby. He shifted into a ready stance and raised his sword into a guard position, grinning challengingly at Lynaka.

She held up her scimitar and spread her feet, the muscles in her arms tensing as she looked back at him. Without warning, she sprang from standing still to a low, twirling slash at his legs.

Daskin blocked the slash with his sword, twisting his wrist to send the point leaping up in a stab at her shoulder in the next second, intending to slap her shoulder with the flat of the blade. Lynaka intercepted the stab with her scimitar, sliding the edge of her weapon along his for a moment before attempting to twist his sword right out of his hand.

He was ready for this, and let his sword twist for a moment before suddenly spinning with it, emerging from his spin with a kick aimed at her stomach. She twisted out of the way with impressive flexibility, and in the same motion slapped his ear with the flat of her scimitar.

"I win again," Lynaka said, grinning.

Daskin rubbed his ear, his pride hurt more than anything else. "Yeah, I suppose," he said, sheathing his sword.

"I win, too," Erike said, not bothering to hide her smile.

Daskin sighed theatrically. "It's somewhat disheartening to be proven completely useless, you know that?"

Lynaka chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. We still have you for comic relief."

"Joy," Daskin deadpanned. "Just what I always wanted; to be a comedian for a troupe of warrior women."

Lynaka laughed. "Don't feel bad; I'm good even for a Gerudo. Unless you were a Hero, you didn't have much chance to begin with."

"Oh, well at least you can stay humble," Daskin said, grinning.

The elder of Arnak's daughters chuckled as she punched his shoulder. He comically feigned injury, and she rolled her eyes as she moved off. Erike gave him an unreadable look before she moved off to join her sister.

As Daskin returned to the _Phoenix, _he saw Impa standing next to Princess Zelda. He noticed her hair was wet, and he gestured to the Sheikah warrior with one hand.

"If you'd have let me know you were going for a swim, I would have gone with you," he said, smirking.

Impa's expression made it obvious she was not amused. "I went ahead to scout the path up to the fortress," she said, turning back to Zelda. "Parts of it have collapsed, and it's impossible to get up there on foot without climbing equipment. We should find a place to land the _Phoenix_ inside."

"Yes," Zelda agreed, bringing her spoon up out of the cooking pot to taste it. She nodded once and then picked up several bowls sitting nearby. "It will make searching the fortress easier."

"I had to hike up that trail the last time I was here," Daskin said. "I fell in a couple times, myself. Tricky bugger had moats on every other switchback, combined with all the other fortifications." He snorted amusedly. "Paranoid, apparently."

"It would have been foolish to try and take this castle with a land army," Erike spoke up. "Whoever built it designed it to be impregnable."

Daskin gestured back at the _Phoenix_. "Good thing we have our super-duper flying machine along," he said, grinning.

He was startled by a sudden hand on his shoulder. "You can help pack up the camp," Impa said from behind him. "If you exercise your arms half as much as your mouth, it shouldn't take you long."

The young man frowned at her before moving off.

"It's so wonderful to be surrounded by such nice, polite ladies," he said, grumbling to himself. He heard Lynaka laugh, and he turned, an amused smirk on his face.

"What are you laughing at?" he inquired teasingly. "You're the rudest one."

He dodged the chunk of potato she plucked from the stew and threw at him, laughing.

---

* * *

---

Later, they stood in front of the _Phoenix_, which they had landed in the wide courtyard just inside the massive wall surrounding the inner fortress. Erike thought to herself that the enormous gray walls seemed meant to overpower anyone looking up at them, to give them the feeling that they were trapped, insignificant, in the hall of a much greater being.

Erike idly drummed her fingers against the hilt of her scimitar, looking up at the grim dark castle. This place was a fitting lair for both Ganondorf and Raneses, she thought, though its design showed almost nothing of Gerudo culture, so perhaps the most recent Dark Lord had been better suited to such a place, he who was Gerudo by blood only. The place was all thick lines, twisted and evil-looking, as if it were an artificial cave, a great black nest for wicked things to dwell in and plot the ruin of others.

Her sister kicked a spear that lay on the ground before them, resting next to the bones of some monstrous creature who had served the Dark Lord. Zelda bent down to examine the bones, her ponytail slipping over her shoulder as she did so, and peered at them for several moments.

Daskin had drawn his sword and was absently whirling it through a surprisingly complicated pattern, spinning the hilt through his fingers as he passed the weapon from one hand to the other. Erike watched him for a few moments, finally deciding that he was not showing off; he was just bored. If he was showing off, she thought amusedly, he would be much more obvious about it.

Impa stood with her sharp eyes flicking over every detail of their surroundings, ever watchful, with one hand resting on the hilt of her sword. Despite the Sheikah warrior's alertness, nothing else was moving within the fortress, not so much as a bird or a rat. But for the roar of the surf on the rocks below, it would have been utterly silent.

"I do not like this place," Impa said, looking up at the spiny, wicked-looking towers and spires. "It bears the Dark Lord's evil taint still; I can sense it."

"Oh, is that what that is?" said Daskin, forcing lightness into his tone. "And here I thought it was just me." He looked around at the others. "Let's not spend any more time here than we have to, all right, ladies?"

Lynaka kicked a monster skull out of the way as she moved toward the stairs that led up to a pair of massive wooden doors, which stood open. "There's nothing to fear in here," she said, moving up the stairs. "But I agree."

The others followed her inside, and Erike moved to walk next to her sister as they moved down a long, wide hall, lined in dark gray stone and devoid of decoration. It seemed cold inside, and not just from the chill sea air. There was no life, no soul to this place; a thousand people could have lived within its walls, but it was bare, alien, a place where a malignant soul had sat spinning its webs and hoping to dominate all life.

Erike's glance was drawn to her sister as Lynaka rubbed her bare arm, looking up at the cavernous ceiling overhead. It was cold here, cold enough that Erike wished she'd brought her cloak along from the ship. Lynaka apparently felt the same way, though neither of them were going to say anything about it. Gerudo warriors did not complain about a little discomfort.

At last they came to a fork in the passage. Zelda moved to the front, gesturing to the three passages. "My mother gave me directions," she said. "Straight ahead is the throne room, and to the left is the Dark Lord's personal tower. To the right are the dungeons."

Impa scowled at the mention of the dungeons, and Erike frowned, as well. That was where her namesake, the Sheikah warrior Erik who had traveled with her father and the others, had died. Erik was Impa's uncle, Erike knew, since the princess' bodyguard had told her that the night before over dinner after asking Erike about her name.

She wondered again what sort of man Erik had been. Her father had always told her that the Sheikah warrior kept to himself mostly on their journey, sharing little with the others unless it was necessary to their quest, but he had obviously impressed her father and mother enough to pass his name on to their younger daughter. Erike wished, not for the first time, that she could have met her father's friend. She felt a sense of sadness, knowing she was in the place where her namesake had met his unhappy end, but she knew the sadness was greater still for Impa. The bodyguard had confided to her that Erik had been her favorite uncle when she was younger, and that she always looked forward to his visits. He was the reason she had decided to undergo the training to become a warrior, instead of pursuing the chronicler's path like her mother and father.

"Should we split up?" Lynaka asked, bringing Erike's thoughts back to the present. "What we are looking for will likely be in either the throne room or the tower."

"Impa," Zelda said to her protector, "why don't you and Erike search the tower? Lynaka, Daskin, and I will go to the throne room."

The Sheikah woman looked over at her charge with concern. "Are you certain, my lady?"

Zelda smiled dismissively. "I will be fine," she said, gesturing to the others.

Impa glanced over at Erike. "All right with you?"

Erike nodded once.

Lynaka looked over at her. "Meet back here in an hour?"

Impa nodded. "That should be enough time for a preliminary search. We can go over the rest of the fortress later if we don't find anything by then."

Daskin flipped them a jaunty salute as he moved off toward the center passage. "Stay out of trouble, girls," he said, grinning.

Lynaka and Zelda followed him, and Erike and Impa moved off toward the tower.

As they drew near the staircase leading up to the Dark Lord's room, Erike paused, glancing back down the long hallway. She was sure she'd heard something, a sort of leathery scraping sound.

When she looked over at Impa, the Sheikah warrior was also alert, with a suspicious look on her face. Her eyes met Erike's briefly. "Be cautious," she said. "Raneses and Ganondorf may be dead, but either of them could have left some monster here to guard their treasures."

Erike silently drew her scimitar and held it loosely in her hand as the two of them moved up the staircase.

---

* * *

---

Lynaka looked around at the cavernous throne room as they made their way inside. The ceiling above reached far over their heads to vanish in blackness even though light streamed into the room from several large, narrow windows that faced the sea. The walls on either side were lined with black and dark gray stone in a muted, subdued pattern, almost severe, and decorated only with an array of weapons. Their footsteps echoed as they strode across the polished floor, which, when Lynaka looked down, featured a huge mosaic of the Triforce symbol in black, the point facing the door they had entered. Somehow, it seemed oddly out of place here, the stones of a different color than the rest of the room, as if one of the Dark Lords had replaced the original floor with a design of his own making.

At the rear of the room, a broken throne of dark gray stone with black and red veins swirling through it sat atop a platform of several steps. A few feet in front of the throne's platform lay a body, rotted away to a pile of armor and bones, with scraps of what might have once been a cloak draped over most of it.

Daskin stepped over to the pile of bones, clothing and armor on the floor. "Who's this?" he asked, looking down at it.

Lynaka looked around the massive throne room, seeing signs of a fierce battle scattered throughout the cavernous chamber; gouges were carved out of the floor, several weapons lay in a ruined mess on the floor, and there were a number of scorch marks from magic attacks. She knew who the corpse, that of a huge man who had been over seven feet tall in life, had to be.

"Raneses," she breathed wonderingly, knowing her mother and father had fought the tyrant here, in this room, years before she was born.

Lynaka looked around the room, and all the stories her mother and father had told her about their last battle with Raneses came flooding back to her, almost seeming to come to life here in the very room where they had taken place. Her mother had killed the man whose body lay at her feet, stabbed him through the heart at the same time as Link the Hero, ending his dark reign forever. Her father had battled Raneses before that, trading blows with the huge man in concert with the other members of his team, Midna the Twilight Princess and Zelda's mother.

A small part of her, Lynaka had to admit, had taken the stories as just that; stories. Both her mother and father were great heroes, Lynaka knew, but she had herself never seen either of them do anything to match what she heard in the stories. Arnak was just an ordinary mortal now; it was hard to imagine his terrible might as a Bearer of Power, but as she looked at the tremendous damage wreaked upon this hall, she knew the battle had been just as epic as the stories made it out to be, perhaps more. Her mother had not been exaggerating when she described Raneses' last stand, how the Nameless One had alone fought off all five members of their team, including all three Triforce Bearers.

This hall was one of the few places where it could truly be said that history was made, where the fate of the world had hinged on the events taking place within its walls. Lynaka felt thankful that her parents and their allies had triumphed here, for she was sure the world would be radically different place had they failed.

Princess Zelda looked down at the body herself, a similarly awed expression on her face. She must have been feeling much the same thing, Lynaka thought, seeing childhood stories come to life around her. It was a thrilling feeling, standing in the very place she had heard so many stories about.

Daskin, showing his usual irreverence, prodded the body with the toe of his boot, kneeling down to look closer at the skull. "Ugly fellow, wasn't he?"

"Actually," said Zelda, "both Ganondorf and Raneses were said to be handsome by Gerudo standards." She glanced over at Lynaka, a slightly embarrassed expression on her face.

The Gerudo warrior shrugged. "I'm not going to deny it. The evil canceled it out, though." She frowned at Daskin. "Get away from that."

Grinning, Daskin bent and pulled the shredded cloak off the body, putting it around his own shoulders. He raised the hood and adopted a fierce expression. "Bwahaha!" he said in an exaggeratedly deep and imperious voice, moving his hands dramatically. "I am the Dark Lord! Fear me!"

Lynaka could not help herself and laughed, trying her hardest to frown disapprovingly at him but failing miserably. Beside her, Zelda also laughed, though she was able to subdue her amusement a little more.

"Silence, worms!" Daskin intoned, widening his eyes in imperious mock-anger as he spread his arms under the cloak, raising the ragged black fabric like a pair of limp wings. "Bow down before the Great King of Evil!"

"That was Ganondorf," Lynaka said, pointing at the rest of the body. "Now put that down. The scimitar isn't here, and I see no books, either."

Daskin swept the cloak off and tossed it on the body in a heap. "Aw, you never let me have any fun," he said, grinning.

Lynaka half-smiled. "Well, I was going to say 'have some respect for the dead', but he doesn't deserve it. Let's go."

The three friends made their way out of the throne room, leaving the Dark Lord's corpse to rot as their parents had.

---

* * *

---

Erike frowned at the opulently decorated room at the top of the tower. It was lined with rich tapestries depicting legends from Gerudo history, their colors still bright and vibrant. One, however, was done mostly in dark colors, and Erike realized it was meant to portray Raneses' deeds; it showed him conquering with a host of dark creatures at his back, all his poses proud and arrogant. Not for the first time, Erike reflected that it could be seen as a good thing that Raneses had forsaken his duties as king of the Gerudo. If he'd actually done what he was meant to do, he would have been her father instead of Arnak. Such a thought was so distasteful to her that it could almost be called horrifying.

The Dark Lord had spent much time here, she knew, and she felt distinctly uncomfortable, almost as if she were in his presence and could feel his vile magic radiating out from him, permeating all that he touched.

She moved further into the room, looking around at the furniture, mostly a few plush chairs now disintegrating from decades of neglect, a few weapons and pieces of armor that were scattered on the floor, and a few chests that had been opened and their contents rummaged through. From a Hylian letter 'D' scratched into the side of the room's single bookshelf, she knew Daskin had been here on his previous trip to the castle, looking through the possessions kept here for anything valuable.

If he had found the jeweled scimitar, Erike thought to herself, the roguish young man would probably have taken it with him and sold it, not knowing what it was. Despite his admittedly witty sense of humor, Erike didn't think much of her sister's new friend; so far, he seemed like a fool who took nothing seriously, always seeking to make a joke out of everything around him.

"Erike, look at this," said Impa, moving to check the edge of one of the tapestries.

As Erike watched, the Sheikah warrior moved the heavy fabric aside to reveal a door. Impa yanked the tapestry down and tossed it aside, treading on it with her boots as she pushed the door inwards. The room beyond was revealed to be a small, circular chamber devoid of decoration but for a low pedestal in the center. On this pedestal was a beautifully crafted scimitar, its hilt plated in gold and set with many jewels.

"This is it," Erike said, slowly moving over to look at the ancient weapon.

Each ruler of her people since Raneses the Great, the first Gerudo king, had borne this weapon, and its history was long and storied. Erike thought to herself that if it were possible, this weapon would be able to tell her things that had happened to many of her ancestors; many of her ancient mothers and fathers had wielded it, some in defense of their people, and some with the intent to conquer. It was indescribably priceless, a treasure of her people, and did not deserve to rest a single moment longer in this monstrous fortress.

Erike reverently picked the scimitar up, wondering just how many hands besides hers had held this blade.

Impa, perhaps sensing her companion's mood, silently offered a scabbard attached to a leather belt, both intricately tooled with Gerudo designs, that she picked up from where it rested on the floor beside the pedestal. Erike sheathed the precious weapon and wrapped the belt around the scabbard, holding it under her arm as she looked up at the Sheikah warrior.

"Let's go," she said.

Impa nodded, and they silently left the room, headed back down to the lower level.

---

* * *

---

Lynaka looked up as Daskin called to her sister and Impa.

"Hello, girls!" he said cheerfully. "Find anything I missed?"

Lynaka looked over as Erike silently held up a jeweled scimitar, and she smiled at her sister. Erike did not return the smile, as usual, but Lynaka could see the reverence in her sister's eyes. Neither of them had seen the ancient weapon before today, but it could be nothing else.

Daskin let out a low whistle of appreciation. "Nice," he said, impressed. He glanced over at Lynaka. "This is what you came here for?"

She nodded. "I had hoped to find further research, also, but it doesn't look like he kept any here."

Zelda opened her mouth to say something, gesturing off in the direction of the main gate and the courtyard where the _Phoenix_ waited, but a low, guttural roar interrupted her.

The group turned as one to face the source of the unexpected sound, more than one hand reaching down for a weapon.

"What was that?" Daskin said slowly, suspicion and fear mixing on his face.

As if in answer, they heard the roar again, closer this time, accompanied by what sounded like heavy running footsteps. The noise was coming from the far right passage, the one that led down to the dungeons.

Daskin said a word Lynaka didn't recognize, but was probably a curse, from his tone. "I knew it!" he exclaimed as he drew his sword. "I just knew one of those," here he said the word again, but with an extra syllable at the end, "left a monster here to guard their treasure!"

Zelda looked over at him as the heavy footsteps drew closer, along with more sustained roaring. It was big, whatever it was.

"You did not encounter this the last time you were here?" the princess asked him.

Daskin shook his head. "I didn't see anything; I was here for maybe four hours last time, not counting how long it took me to get inside, and nothing else but me was moving in here the whole time."

"It sounds almost like a boar," Erike said distractedly, her head cocked to one side as she listened.

Lynaka's eyes met her sister's; the boar was a symbol of Ganondorf's, and he had been known to be able to turn himself into one on occasion.

"Run!" she said, waving the others toward the door. Even if this was merely a monster left behind by Ganondorf or Raneses, it was almost certainly a thing of magic, and not something she wanted to tangle with.

As one, their footsteps echoing off the stone walls and the pillars lining the wide hall, the group sprinted for the huge doors off in the distance.

Even louder than before, the thing bellowed again, its roar seeming to shake the walls. A flash of movement caught Lynaka's eye, and she glanced over to see Impa leap up in a long back-flip to land on the wide decorative band around the closest pillar, perching on perhaps two inches of space.

As the others continued running, Lynaka drew her scimitar and jogged backwards for a few steps, looking back to see if the monster was chasing them. It indeed was; the monster was an unnaturally massive boar, its long yellow tusks gleaming in the light. Eerily, its eyes were a solid yellow, with no pupils, and emitted a faint glow.

It paused to look down at them, seemingly at Lynaka specifically, and then it threw back its head for another fierce bellow. Impa watched it with an almost equally fierce glare from her perch, apparently waiting for it to run underneath her.

Lynaka met the Sheikah warrior's eyes, gesturing at the beast with her scimitar, and the other woman nodded once. Lynaka glanced over her shoulder to see that her sister, Daskin, and Princess Zelda were nearly to the door, and then she planted her feet in the center of the corridor, brandishing her scimitar challengingly.

"Come here, ugly creature," she said with a grin. She twirled her scimitar through a quick pattern. "Let me make you a little prettier."

The boar bellowed again as it charged, lowering its tusks, and Lynaka tensed her legs, preparing to spring out of the way.

Three things happened at once: Impa leaped down onto the creature's head as it passed underneath her, Lynaka dove to the side, behind a pillar, and something hit the boar in the eye, making it swerve even further away from Lynaka to crash into the opposite wall.

Running footsteps made Lynaka look up to see Daskin approaching, his sword in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. He hurled the knife at the boar as he spun, pulling himself behind the pillar behind Lynaka's.

Impa stabbed the creature in the neck with her sword, but the boar heaved itself to its feet with a mighty roar, shaking so violently even the agile Sheikah was thrown from its back. She turned her tumble into a graceful roll, ending up in a defensive crouch with her weapon held out in front of her, her long silver braid draped over one shoulder.

Lynaka felt an odd feeling come over her in the next few moments; first, it seemed as if time slowed down slightly, or she was moving much faster than usual. Her vision seemed sharper, as well, as she looked out at the monstrous boar and watched it narrow its eyes at the Sheikah warrior, preparing to charge. She thought she could see some sort of glow out of the corner of her eye, but she ignored it for the moment, focused on her enemy.

Lynaka jumped out from behind her cover, running at the boar as it began to move forward. It angled its massive shaggy head to impale her with one of its wickedly sharp tusks, but she vaulted over it, planting one hand on the tusk to aid her leap, and immediately slashed at the tendons in its leg upon landing.

The boar jumped aside with surprising quickness, trying to slash at her again with its tusks, but at that moment, Impa leaped over to stab it in the side. Daskin jumped from behind his pillar and sprinted past her, running for the boar's rear.

Bellowing again, the monstrous boar swiveled, trying to determine what its opponents were doing. It slashed at Impa, but the warrior nimbly twisted out of the way, stabbing it in the side again.

Daskin attempted to cut its rear legs out from under it, but the boar again jumped out of the way, charging at Lynaka. She felt her legs tense and spring, her body twisting in midair as the boar's head passed underneath her, but it seemed almost to her like her body was moving without her thinking about it, moving on instincts she didn't know she had.

Lynaka landed solidly on the boar's muscular neck, straddling it, and without hesitation, she plunged her scimitar into the place where its head met its shoulders.

The boar bucked wildly, bellowing in pain, but the enraged roar suddenly turned into a wheezing gasp, and Lynaka looked down to see the feathered shaft of an arrow protruding from its throat. Surprised, she glanced up and saw Erike standing with her bow in hand at the double doors, reaching back for another arrow.

Zelda was also rushing back into the fortress, having fetched her own bow from the _Phoenix_, as well. The princess strung an arrow and let it fly as she came to a stop beside Lynaka's sister, and it hit the boar's throat a bare inch from Erike's. Lynaka noticed an odd light coming from the back of the princess' hand, but the boar's movements quickly jarred the image from her vision as she focused on keeping her perch.

Lynaka whirled her scimitar over her head as the boar tumbled to a halt, and stabbed it behind the neck one more time as it crashed into a pillar, tensing her legs to leap off.

Surprising her, the boar disappeared in a cloud of choking black smoke a moment after it wheezed its last breath, and she landed heavily on her shoulder, her head hitting the marble floor with a sharp impact at almost the same time.

Groaning, Lynaka picked herself up, raising one hand to gingerly touch the growing lump on the back of her head. She turned to look at the others, only to see that they were all staring at her with various degrees of astonishment.

"Ugh," Lynaka said, glancing back at the slowly fading cloud of smoke. "What was that?"

"Your hand…" Erike said, pointing. She was visibly surprised, an extreme reaction for her.

Expecting some sort of wound she hadn't noticed yet, Lynaka looked down at her hand, and her own jaw dropped in surprise.

On the back of her weapon hand was a powerfully glowing golden triangle made of three smaller triangles, the bottom right triangle glowing the brightest.

"What…?" Lynaka breathed, astonished. This couldn't be…

"Your Highness," Impa said in a hushed voice, pointing at Princess Zelda.

Lynaka looked up to see that Zelda had her own glowing triangle on her right hand, only the bottom left part of the symbol glowed brightest. The princess also had an odd look on her face, as if she was seeing something visible only to her.

"That can't be what I think it is…" Daskin said, a strange tinge to his own voice.

"The Triforce," Zelda said reverently. "The two of us have been chosen as Bearers."

"But why?" Erike asked, looking over at her sister with a puzzled expression. "I thought the Triforce had been sent back to the Sacred Realm after Father's wish in the fight with Ganondorf."

"So did I," Lynaka said, almost to herself, as she continued to stare at the glowing mark on her hand. What did this mean?

"The Triforce has again been split," said Zelda, looking at her own hand. "Someone has entered the Sacred Realm and laid hands upon it."

"But who?" Impa asked, a quizzical set to her normally stoic features. "Who would even know how to do such a thing?"

"Whoever they are," Zelda said slowly, "they are now the Bearer of Power. I bear Wisdom, as did my mother before me and many of my ancestors, and Lynaka has Courage, making her the Hero now."

"What?" Daskin spluttered almost… jealously? Lynaka was confused by her friend's tone. His expression was one of disbelief, as if he was almost angry at this turn of events. "Why is she the Hero when the last one is still alive? Shouldn't Courage have gone back to him?" He gestured almost irritably. "Or even…" he trailed off, clearly stopping himself from saying more.

Zelda turned to him, a calm, cool manner coming over her. "No. My mother says the Goddesses themselves released Lord Fenris from their service. They told him he was no longer bound to serve them, and if need arose, they would choose another."

"But why Lynaka?" inquired Erike, gesturing at her sister. "We are not from Hyrule; why would the Goddesses choose a Gerudo as their Hero?"

"I do not know," Zelda said, a concerned, thoughtful frown crossing her face. "I have read that sometimes the Triforce chooses its own bearers, or the Goddesses gift their respective pieces to whoever they believe is worthy." She gestured at Lynaka and Erike with her unmarked hand. "That is how Arnak came to have the Triforce of Power during the war. He is not from Hyrule, either."

Daskin opened his mouth to say something further, but Impa held up a hand to silence him.

"We should discuss this on our way back to the Gerudo city," the Sheikah warrior said. "We do not know what else Ganondorf or Raneses may have left here."

Zelda nodded. "I agree. Let us go."

---

* * *

---

In the air, Zelda and Lynaka sat over Ganondorf's manuscript. They could hear Daskin talking with Impa and Erike in the _Phoenix_'s cockpit, but the two newly appointed Triforce Bearers had their own discussion.

"Who do you think is the Bearer of Power?" Lynaka asked, looking up at Zelda.

She seemed more alert and more energetic than before, her brown eyes sharper and more penetrating, like she was constantly analyzing everything around her, whether consciously or not.

Zelda herself felt similarly more energized, though it seemed to her that her thoughts felt faster and smoother, as if she made mental connections much more quickly and efficiently than before. It was an odd sensation to feel noticeably more intelligent, the princess thought, and she marveled at it, knowing her mother had felt this way almost all of her life.

"I do not know," Zelda replied. She glanced down at the manuscript they had found in the pyramid, trying to analyze a pattern, and idly thought to herself that she wanted to have a long talk with her mother about the Triforce of Wisdom, asking any advice its previous keeper might be able to offer.

"Do you think this means trouble?" Lynaka asked, drumming her fingers in a restless pattern on the small fold-out table's surface. "If the Bearer of Power went into the Sacred Realm in an attempt to take the Triforce for himself, it was probably for a selfish reason." Zelda glanced up at the firmness and determination in her fellow Bearer's tone, and Lynaka met her eyes resolutely. "This may mean another Dark Lord has arisen," she said tightly.

Zelda nodded as she looked back down at the manuscript. "If the Triforce of Power is in the hands of an evil being," she said as she turned a page, "then it is our sacred duty to stop him or her. We would be the only beings capable of standing up to another part of the Golden Power."

She looked up into Lynaka's eyes again. "Only the most powerful of magic users are able to imbue a servant with a controlling Shadow taint; that the boar disappeared into smoke after its defeat means a very powerful sorcerer created and controlled it."

"Could it have been one of the Dark Lords?" Lynaka asked.

"Possibly," Zelda replied thoughtfully, "though I wouldn't think a controlling taint like that one would last this long. There is a possibility that a third dark mage created that monster."

The two of them were silent for a moment at this.

"In any case," Zelda continued, "we must consult the previous Bearers for advice. It would also be a good idea to seek out the wizard Majacen, for he knows much of the Triforce and its history. If Power is indeed held by a new Dark Lord, he will know what to do."

Lynaka nodded, but whatever she was about to say was interrupted by a sudden spark of insight Zelda had as she noticed something about the writing on the page of Ganondorf's manuscript she was perusing.

"It's not in Gerudo," she said abruptly, reaching for the piece of paper on which she and Lynaka had recorded the hidden letters.

"What?" Lynaka asked, leaning over for a closer look.

"Ganondorf didn't write this in Gerudo," Zelda said excitedly, looking down at the paper, which had all of the hidden letters they'd found written in order, grouped as they had been on the pages.

She spun the paper so that Lynaka could see it. "Read this out loud," Zelda said, her thoughts whirling as she waited to confirm her hypothesis.

"It's nonsense," Lynaka said. "None of this forms any words."

"No words in _Gerudo_," Zelda said, raising a finger as an excited grin quirked her mouth. "Read it."

Lynaka traced her finger over the paper, on which the letters were arranged into 'words' based on how they had appeared in the scrollwork.

Haltingly, Lynaka sounded out the letter groupings, and at first, it did sound like nothing more than gibberish, but after a few of the 'words' were repeated or said in slightly different forms, Zelda smiled in satisfaction.

Lynaka's pronunciation was terrible, but she was indeed reading a language Zelda knew.

"Old Hylian," Zelda said triumphantly. "Ganondorf wrote this manuscript in phonetic Old Hylian using the Gerudo alphabet." She grinned to herself at the ingeniousness of the Dark Lord's code. "Tricky," she said appreciatively.

Lynaka looked at her over the paper with a puzzled expression. "What?" she said, clearly not following.

Zelda reached out to playfully flick the piece of paper the young warrior held. "Though your stressing wasn't quite right in a few places, you just said, in Old Hylian, 'The Golden Power's land is full of liars, but the tongue of their ancestors speaks true.' An odd phrase, to be sure, but it's a good clue."

Lynaka's brow furrowed in further puzzlement. "So…"

Zelda grinned again. "Ganondorf wrote this manuscript," she touched the book for emphasis, "in a language no one has spoken as a common tongue in five hundred years. Hylian shifted into its present form not long before my family started ruling Hyrule, and it has evolved into what you and I are speaking now since then. Old Hylian is still spoken by the upper classes, but only on occasions of great formality." Zelda leaned back in her seat as she looked down at the book again. "Most noble families still exchange wedding vows in Old Hylian, and funeral rites for the Royal Family are always said in it, as well."

She shook her head in wonderment. "Even though he hid it from his servants and the other Gerudo, only Ganondorf himself would have been able to make any sense of this. I am not sure where he learned Old Hylian, but it is an ingenious way of keeping his findings to himself. I wonder what he learned that he decided to take all these precautions."

A thoughtful look crossed Lynaka's face, and the young warrior stared out of the window next to the table for a few moments in silence.

"I think he meant for this to be found," she said finally, touching the cover. "Otherwise, he would not have bothered to put the scrollwork in with the clue to breaking his code. The Accursed One was too smart to forget his own code, so he must have wanted a future king or someone else to read this."

Lynaka looked over at Zelda. "This must be more important than we thought." She tapped the manuscript with a finger. "There may be more of his secrets here than anyone has ever learned."

Silently, the two women looked down at the manuscript, wondering what the Great King of Evil had entrusted to its pages.

---

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks goes to Desteni for some very helpful pointers on this chapter. In further news, my laptop will be back in a few days, so I can get back to writing at my usual pace. I have some exciting twists planned for this story as we get further into the main plot, so I hope you all enjoy them. As always, thanks for reading!


	5. A Much Larger World

Five

Zelda and Lynaka worked over the manuscript for a few more hours, but progress was slow, since Ganondorf's writing style was idiosyncratic and he often used odd phrasing that made little sense until translated to modern Hylian. Even then it still made little sense.

Zelda finally sighed in frustration, resisting the urge to slam the old book closed in aggravation. Since Lynaka did not know Old Hylian, most of the translation work fell on her, and she was growing uncharacteristically angry at the volume.

"Even though he left a clue in how to translate this," Zelda said as she leaned back in her seat, massaging her temples against a pending headache, "Ganondorf apparently still didn't want anyone else to understand it."

She looked over at her friend as Lynaka perused the pages of notes Zelda had made. "He refers to places and names I have never heard of," the young Gerudo warrior said with a puzzled frown. "I wonder if this is a second volume, and we did not find the first. Like this." She tapped a sentence near the middle of the page she was holding. "Who are the Sea Gerudo? My people do not live near the ocean; we were driven away from all the coastal cities long ago by the humans and the Hylians."

Lynaka held up the page for emphasis. "Yet he speaks of them like he met one, since he says he 'found her more like my own people than I had thought at first. She is certainly a Gerudo, but one used to the sea, and almost ill at ease this far inland. The contrast is strange to me, and I wonder what the rest of her people are like.'" Lynaka held up the page in helpless frustration. "I don't understand this."

"Then you must be thinking too hard," Daskin said as he stepped into the compartment from the cockpit with a playful grin on his face. "I find it's rarely worth it to think hard about anything."

Zelda rolled her eyes at Daskin's flippancy, and glanced over at Lynaka, expecting a witty comeback from the young warrior.

But instead, Lynaka just nodded distractedly and turned back to the manuscript. Zelda was surprised; she'd been expecting at least something.

Daskin chuckled as he approached and leaned against the wall opposite the table. "No comeback?" he said amusedly. "This must really be a puzzler."

Again surprising Zelda, Lynaka grunted noncommittally, absorbed in shuffling the pages of notes around as she looked for something. Daskin laughed again.

"Okay," he said. "I'll leave you to it, then." He looked over at Zelda. "Anyway, Impa said to tell you two that we're going to be back to the city in about half an hour or so."

"Thank you," Zelda said, stretching as she stood. She winced at the aches in her legs from not moving for so long, and she glanced out of the window as she moved around, trying to regain feeling.

She paused, narrowing her eyes as she frowned at an especially large dark cloud rapidly approaching from the north. _Against_ the wind, which was blowing from the south. Zelda sensed a tinge of magic in the cloud, slippery and indefinable, as if an active attempt were being made to disguise it,

Daskin had noticed the cloud, too, and he stopped to peer suspiciously out of the window. "Something funny's going on-"

He did not get the rest of his sentence out, for at that moment, a tremendous gust of wind seized the _Phoenix_ and rolled the ship, sending the three of them sprawling and the papers flying in every direction.

Zelda gasped in pain as her back struck the sharp edge of the table, and she braced herself as the airship tumbled again. The wind roared, deafeningly loud, outside the ship, and the _Phoenix_ creaked as the gale spun it end over end, out of control, through the air.

The princess tried desperately to summon some kind of magic to counter whatever malevolent force drove the cloud, but as she was concentrating, the wild rolling of the ship launched her into a bulkhead and the world went black.

---

* * *

---

The first thing Lynaka registered upon finally awaking was that something heavy and warm was on top of her, a rough fabric against her bare stomach while something metal and cold poked her in the side.

She opened her eyes and groaned, trying to make her head stop spinning. The last thing she remembered was the _Phoenix_ suddenly tumbling through the air, and then nothing.

Lynaka looked down to see that the heavy thing sitting on her stomach was, in fact, Daskin's leg, and it was his scabbard poking her in the side. The rest of him was lying at an awkward angle next to her, and he groaned, letting her know he was still alive.

She pushed his leg aside and looked around, holding a hand to her head in a vain attempt to halt its throbbing. A powerful smell assaulted her first, the smell of smoke, but under it was another, richer scent, like damp earth.

The first color she noticed was green, and as Lynaka reached out to steady herself on something large and brown next to her, she felt rough bark under her fingers. She blinked slowly to clear her vision, and the scene came into greater focus.

Massive pillars of wood stretched far up out of sight, trees so thick that three people standing around them would just barely be able to brush fingertips. Everywhere around her was green, more green than Lynaka had ever seen before in her life. It was dim, the sun almost entirely blocked out by the foliage overhead, and the sound of a hundred creatures she could not name howling, screeching and chattering at each other assailed her ears in a horrible cacophony.

It took her a moment to retrieve the name for this sort of environment from her memory, as she knew of it only from description. This was a jungle, practically dripping with life, and unpleasantly hot and humid. She was sweating already, she noticed, the heat here almost entirely different from that of her desert home.

In fact, this place was almost the polar opposite of the desert; there, the sand stretched on in endless dunes for miles, and you could see all the way into Hyrule on a clear day, which most of them were. Here, there were so many jumbled plants and trees twisting all over each other so thickly that it was difficult to see anything a few yards away, let alone a mile.

Lynaka heard Daskin groan again, so she staggered over to him to help her friend to his feet. He blinked blearily up at her as she pulled him up from the leaf and twig-strewn ground. A few leaves stuck to his jacket, but fell away as he raised a hand to his head.

"What happened?" he rasped, coughing. He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, making Lynaka think his head ached just as much as hers.

"I have no idea," Lynaka said, looking around for the others.

A snap, a crash and a surprised, feminine yelp sounded from their right, and the two of them rounded one of the massive trees to see Zelda gingerly picking herself up from atop a branch, which had apparently fallen to the ground from higher up the tree with her on it.

The princess turned toward the two of them, sweeping her loose, tangled hair out of her face with one hand. "Are you two all right?" she asked, brushing leaves off of her clothes with her other hand.

Lynaka refrained from smirking as she noted her friend's disheveled condition, so unlike her usual carefully proper appearance. A remark was on the tip of her tongue before she stopped herself, frowning. Gods, Daskin was rubbing off on her!

_Perhaps obnoxiousness is contagious_, she thought to herself amusedly.

"Nothing broken, as far as I can tell," Daskin said in response to Zelda, groaning again. "Bruises, on the other hand…"

"Where's my sister?" Lynaka suddenly asked, looking around for the other two members of their group.

Movement above her caught her eye, and Lynaka looked higher up the leafy green tree next to them to see Impa making her way down, hopping lightly from one branch to another before finally somersaulting to a perfect landing next to Zelda.

"Are you all right, my lady?" the bodyguard asked concernedly, looking over at her charge.

"Yes, I'm fine, Impa," Zelda said, finally giving up in her attempts to straighten the tangled mess of her hair. She swept it back, out of her face, and looked up at the taller woman. "Have you seen Erike?"

Impa shook her head, her sharp eyes moving over the scene with cautious scrutiny, as one hand dropped to rest on the hilt of her sword. Something big growled from deeper in the jungle, and the Sheikah's eyes narrowed even further.

Lynaka heard her sister's voice groan from somewhere behind her, and, concerned, she turned to push her way through the closely growing ferns to the source of the noise. As she drew closer, Lynaka spotted Erike first by the light flashing off of her scimitar as her sister tried to free herself from a tangle of vines hanging from the thick limb of another of the massive trees.

Erike was hanging upside down from the vines, apparently having tangled up in them while falling. They had probably saved her from a rougher landing, but she was quite obviously stuck.

Lynaka drew her own scimitar as she moved forward, looking for a way to help, but even as Erike noticed her, she slashed through the vines holding her feet and flipped, hanging now only from the vines tangled around her arm and upper torso.

"I do not like this place," Erike announced with a measure of wry amusement. What her sister found amusing about being dropped into this goddess-forsaken jungle, Lynaka couldn't guess, but she supposed it was good someone could find humor in the situation.

Erike swung her scimitar up to sever the remaining vines, and dropped lightly to her feet in front of her sister. With deceptive serenity, she looked Lynaka in the eye and calmly added, "You have a beetle in your hair."

"What?!" Lynaka shrieked more than said, dropping her scimitar as she brought both hands up to search for the offending creature, hoping it didn't decide to crawl up her arm.

With enviable calm, Erike darted out her hand and plucked a beetle nearly two inches long from a tangle of Lynaka's long red hair, which had mostly escaped from her customary braid. She tossed the insect off into the foliage with an expression of faint disgust.

Lynaka's expression of disgust was anything but faint. She _hated_ insects, with their too-many legs and disturbing habit of crawling into the worst places. It was probably because there were few of them in the desert, and what insects were there were decidedly unpleasant.

She pulled what was left of her braid loose as she combed her fingers through her hair, making sure nothing more repulsive than twigs and leaves had decided to take up residence there. Finding nothing that moved on its own, Lynaka pulled the leather tie that usually sat at the base of her braid out, shaking her hair for a moment in an attempt to dislodge a bit of the jungle debris. She was mostly unsuccessful, and sighed in frustration as she pushed her now-loose hair back over her shoulders. It would take forever to get it brushed out and back into her preferred style now, but she supposed that was one of the drawbacks of having such long hair. Lynaka briefly entertained the notion of just hacking it off at her shoulders, but decided against it. Instead, she tied it back, to at least keep it out of her face for the time being.

Erike smirked at her, briefly wiggling her fingers in imitation of crawling legs, and Lynaka swatted her shoulder, laughing despite herself.

Hearing footsteps crunching through the leaves and twigs, Lynaka looked over at Daskin as he approached, frowning disgustedly. "You should have seen that thing, girls!" he exclaimed. "It was a bug as big as my hand, and it landed right on my shoulder." He shuddered theatrically. "I hate bugs."

"Just your shoulder?" Lynaka said, cocking a wry eyebrow. "How will you ever recover from such trauma?" she teased.

Daskin opened his mouth for a reply, but stopped when he noticed a snake, easily ten feet long and nearly as thick around as the branch over which it was draped, move on the tree behind him, its tongue flicking out as it investigated the noise. Daskin took a long step away from it.

"I'm not too fond of snakes, either," he said, giving the creature a dirty look. Lynaka nodded in silent agreement, also eyeing the animal.

"Where are we?" Erike asked, sheathing her scimitar. Remembering her own dropped weapon, Lynaka bent to retrieve it.

"I have no idea," said Daskin. "Last thing I remember, we were about to go back to your city, and then we got caught in some kind of really weird storm."

"That storm was not natural," announced Zelda, as she and Impa approached the three of them. "I distinctly felt magic within it."

"You mean, somebody did this on purpose?" Daskin said suspiciously.

Zelda nodded. "I believe the intent was to kill us, though it could merely have been to prevent our returning to the Gerudo city."

"Who would do such a thing?" Lynaka asked, curious.

"Somebody with a taste for overkill," Daskin said dryly. "If I remember my geography right, there aren't any jungles in Hyrule. The jungles only start in the Far South where the slavers are."

"Which would mean we are hundreds of miles from my kingdom," Zelda said thoughtfully, looking off into the dense green jungle in a vaguely northward direction.

"Where is the _Phoenix_?" asked Erike, looking over at Impa.

"Up in that tree," the bodyguard replied, a trifle irritably. "Wrecked. It looks like most of us were either thrown clear in the crash or fell out afterwards. There's a huge hole in the main cabin wall from a branch we hit on our way down."

"Well, isn't that just lovely," Daskin snapped, kicking a fern. "We're stuck here." He glanced over at Impa and Zelda. "I don't suppose either of you girls can teleport, can you?"

Both shook their heads.

Daskin sighed. "Figures."

"How big are the jungles here?" Lynaka asked, half dreading the answer.

"Hundreds of miles," Zelda answered. "The southern portion of this continent is mostly covered in jungle, with most of the cities near the rivers. We could be near a city, and we could be dozens of miles from any civilization." The princess shrugged helplessly. "Without a better idea of where we are, I don't know what else to tell you."

"We're not close to any cities," Impa said, frowning. "I climbed to the top of the tree the _Phoenix_ is in to get a better look, and all I could see was jungle in every direction."

Daskin snarled a word that was probably a curse, kicking another fern, and Lynaka wholeheartedly agreed with him.

---

* * *

---

Queen Zelda stood with her hands on the railing of the wide balcony just below the formal throne room at the top of Hyrule Castle, frowning thoughtfully as she stared off into the distance, facing south. She had been sensing some very strange things in the last few hours, and she was growing increasingly concerned.

"Is something bothering you, Your Majesty?" a deep, powerful voice said behind her.

The Queen turned to look at her fellow former Triforce Bearer, Arnak. The big man was dressed as usual in a loose desert cloak over his regular clothes, which shifted slightly in the wind. He had a concerned expression on his face beneath his thick beard, his dark, intelligent eyes focused on her.

She sighed as her old friend joined her at the railing. "Something very strange is happening, Arnak," she said, gesturing in the general direction of south. "I am sensing powerful magic stirring, the likes of which I have not felt since the end of the war."

"What sort of magic?" Arnak asked suspiciously, crossing his thick arms over his chest.

"The Golden Power," Zelda said, looking up at him. "I sense that the Triforce has again entered this world, and has been split." She laced her tone with all the dire portents such an event entailed.

"What?" Arnak said, his brows raising in surprise. "How is that possible?"

The Queen sighed. "I do not know, nor do I know to whom the Triforce pieces have been gifted. I cannot focus on any of the pieces to sense anything further." She looked up at her friend again. "I believe my powers are being actively clouded," she said tightly. "I cannot extend my perceptions beyond the southern mountains into the Far South."

Arnak's dark eyes narrowed, growing suspicion building on his face. "Do you think another Dark Lord has arisen?" he asked, his own voice tense.

"I do not know," Zelda replied, having had such a thought herself earlier. "As I said, it is now difficult for me to extend my perceptions beyond the borders of my kingdom. Before this happened, however, I distinctly sensed someone or something powerful and malevolent directing a strong stream of magic to the north. I could not tell you what it was for, however."

Arnak was silent for a long moment. "This does not bode well," he said finally. He looked down at her, his expression grim. "Have you heard from Majacen recently?" he asked. "He may know something about this."

"I have not," Zelda replied. "He sent me a letter telling me that he had troubling news he wished to discuss in person, and that he would be coming to the castle as soon as he could." She met the other former Triforce Bearer's eyes gravely. "That was four months ago. Majacen has been known to travel abroad for months or even years at a time, but it has never been so long without any word from him at all."

Arnak sighed, gazing off into the distance. "There has been much troubling news recently," he said. He glanced back down at her. "My daughters and yours went north, to investigate Raneses' fortress. What you sensed, was it there?"

"It could have been," the Queen said quietly. "I have tried to contact both my daughter and her bodyguard, but I have received no response."

Though she tried not to give any outward indication, Zelda's stomach had been clenched with worry for her daughter since her failure to contact her, a part of her dreading the worst. This was connected, she knew, though she did not yet know how.

Arnak sighed again, angrily this time. "Times like these are when I wish I still had my piece of the Triforce," he said, his shoulders tensing. "I could be there in only moments." He turned to her. "The knowledge that someone else holds its power is troubling," he said. "I believe power that great should not be held by mortals."

"I agree with you there, Arnak," the Queen said, placing her hands on the railing of the balcony. Her fingers almost involuntarily clenched it so tightly they began to ache a moment later. "In the meantime, I will ask the Sheikah to investigate. Whatever is happening will certainly affect Hyrule sooner or later."

Arnak half-smiled in grim amusement. "It usually does," he said.

---

* * *

---

Daskin sighed as he leaned against a tree, wiping a hand across his brow. This jungle was accursedly hot, almost more miserable than the desert. The humidity made it worse, Daskin thought; it made the place like one gigantic sauna.

_A sauna also being enjoyed by snakes, bugs, and whatever it is that keeps making that gods-awful howling_, he thought grumpily, sweeping a hand back through his hair.

He pulled at the lapel of his shirt, which he had mostly unbuttoned in the heat, also rolling up the sleeves. He'd left his jacket back at the _Phoenix_ with Impa and Zelda, who were trying to do what they could to repair the airship. Despite Daskin's efforts, his shirt was nonetheless soaked with sweat and stuck uncomfortably to his skin.

He, Lynaka and Erike had set off in search of a nearby river Impa had told them about, planning to retrieve water and perhaps later follow it in search of civilization. Erike, as usual, was quiet, keeping a constant watch on the jungle around them with one hand on her weapon. Lynaka wasn't much more talkative, though she seemed to be thinking about something.

Daskin took a drink from his canteen, looking over at the two girls. Erike had pulled her long brown hair loose from its braid and was currently pulling it back in preparation to bind it up again. She looked back at him, meeting his passing gaze with her bright green eyes, nearly the same shade as the foliage that surrounded them, and, surprisingly, offered a small, almost unnoticeable smile. Daskin grinned back in response, silently offering her the canteen. She held out her hands, and he lobbed it over to her.

Once she had caught it, he looked over at her sister, who was leaning against a tree, staring off into the distance as if thinking about something. Lynaka idly drummed the fingers of one hand on the pommel of her scimitar, her other hand resting on her stomach.

Daskin straightened, flexing his shoulders and then stretching his arms. He looked over at Lynaka again. "Ready to go?" he asked.

She looked back up at him, bringing herself out of her thoughts, and nodded. Lynaka adjusted her belt as she stood up, but suddenly she frowned, peering at something over Daskin's shoulder.

"What is it?" he asked, half turning to look for himself. "It's not another snake, is it?"

"No," Lynaka said distractedly, moving past him. She stopped at what appeared to be a tree almost entirely overgrown with vines, and she grabbed hold of the thickest part of the overgrowth.

With a sharp pull, Lynaka yanked the vines down to reveal, not a tree, but a definitely man-made stone pillar. Daskin's brows lifted in surprise; he hadn't realized it until Lynaka pulled some of the vines down, but a few of the 'trees' in the immediate vicinity were entirely too straight and evenly spaced, devoid of growth but for the ever-present vines and ivy.

They had stumbled into the ruins of a temple or other structure, slowly being consumed by the jungle since it had been abandoned decades or even centuries ago.

"What is this place?" Daskin asked, yanking more vines off a nearby pillar.

"I don't know," Lynaka replied, looking around at what could be seen of the decaying structure.

Erike brushed some dirt off of the pillar next to her, pulling a few tendrils of vine and other plant matter out of a carving next to her, at about eye level. "These are Hylian letters," she announced.

"What?" exclaimed Daskin, moving over to see for himself. "There shouldn't be anything Hylian this far south. The slaver wars are the first time Hyrule has expanded into this area."

"Nevertheless, they are there," Erike said, gesturing to them. "It looks like the letters 'L' and 'F', surrounded by some sort of pattern."

"It looks like lightning," Lynaka observed, reaching out to touch the crude markings.

Daskin looked closer at the carving. Clearly, it wasn't part of the original decoration, as it looked like someone had just scratched it into the stone of the pillar. It had been long enough that dirt had collected inside the lines, as well as bits of ivy, so clearly it had been left a long time ago.

"L.F. and lightning," he said to himself thoughtfully. A thought occurred to him, and Daskin frowned as he mulled it over. "It could be…"

"Could be what?" asked Lynaka, looking closer at the pattern.

"Well," he said, pushing his sleeve farther up his arm, "one of the Heroes was said to have come down this way a long time ago, maybe three hundred years or so. His name was Link Fenris, and he was the Hero of Lightning, so this could have been left by him."

Lynaka looked over at him in surprise. "The Hero of Lightning?" she said, looking back at the marking. "My father's greatsword originally belonged to him. The last Hero gave it to my father during the Oocca War."

"Well, he's descended from the original Link Fenris," Daskin said. "He must have gotten it out of the mansion in the mountains that belonged to his family when they were nobles. Queen Zelda gave him back his family's lordship when it was all over, so I guess his family is noble again."

He noticed Lynaka looking at him strangely, and he blinked, looking back at her questioningly. "What?"

"I met Lord Fenris once, when I was a girl," she said, still staring at him. "He had the most unique blue eyes, almost like those of an animal."

Daskin pointedly looked away, breaking her gaze. "Lucky him," he said dismissively. "So, you think the Hero of Lightning came here?" he said, changing the subject.

Lynaka continued to look at him, almost with suspicion, before she finally nodded. "He might have," she said, glancing at the marking again. "There might be more to this temple. Look around for an entrance."

Daskin immediately moved off, looking around, but he knew both girls were staring at him. Finally, he turned around and looked back at them impatiently. "Well?" he said testily. "Come on! We might be able to use this temple for shelter tonight, so let's get it scouted out before it gets dark."

Lynaka moved past him, looking around, but Erike stayed where she was a moment longer, holding his gaze.

_She knows_, Daskin thought to himself. _Lynaka probably does, too._

Angrily, he drew his sword and slashed a vine out of his way, looking around for more of the temple. This was the last thing he wanted.

---

* * *

---

Princess Zelda sighed, looking over at her bodyguard from her seat atop a wide, thick branch high up in one of the massive jungle trees. "Do you think we'll be able to fix it?" she asked, half knowing the answer already.

Impa, perched atop what was left of the _Phoenix_, crossed her arms over her chest and frowned. Zelda sighed again.

"I doubt we'll be able to get it to fly again with what we have here," Impa said gravely. "It can be repaired, I think, but we don't have the right tools or enough parts. I'm sorry, my lady."

Zelda nodded sadly as she looked at her airship, crumpled in places from the crash, with a giant hole ripped in one side of the main cabin. The cockpit windows were also broken, glass shards littering the seats and the instruments. She spotted Ganondorf's manuscript, thankfully undamaged, lying on the floor of the cockpit, and she made a mental note to retrieve it and as many of her notes as she could before they got the _Phoenix_ out of the tree. How they were going to do that without damaging it further was another problem entirely.

"It's strange," Zelda said, looking up at the leafy green canopy overhead. "The storm was so violent that I am sure it would have killed us. Someone conjured it with magic but…" she trailed off, trying to remember what had happened during the crash as she drifted in and out of consciousness.

"I felt something, too, my lady," Impa said, lightly dropping to the wide branch next to the princess. "Something else tried to cushion us as we landed."

"Exactly!" Zelda exclaimed. "Another force, different than the one that conjured the storm, sent another wind at the ship as it came down, to soften the landing. It felt…" She frowned thoughtfully. "It felt somewhat familiar, like I knew that magic user, but I can't quite place who it could have been."

Impa scowled, glaring off at the north. "One thing is for sure," she said grimly. "We are being actively opposed. Someone wanted to kill you after we left the Dark Lord's fortress. That a piece of the Triforce came to you shortly before is no coincidence."

Zelda looked over at her bodyguard, surprised. "Do you think it could have been the Bearer of Power who tried to kill us?" she asked.

"I do not know," said Impa. "Conjuring a storm seems needlessly chancy to me. Why push us all the way down here into the Far South? Why not simply drive the ship out to sea and then smash it into the water?"

Zelda leaned against the hull of her vessel, idly brushing leaves off of one of the painted lines. "Unless the point was to bring us down here," she said. "Or, if not to kill us, to at least keep us away from Hyrule."

Impa nodded sharply. "Since you and Lynaka are now Triforce Bearers, that is the most likely possibility. The Golden Power is supposed to protect Hyrule from outside threats, so to keep it away from the kingdom may mean that whatever sorcerer brought us down here is planning to invade."

"But again," said Zelda, glancing up at a shrieking animal call, "why bring us down here to keep us out of the way? As you said, why not simply kill us?"

"We shall have to investigate further, my lady," Impa replied. "But first, we must find a way out of this jungle. Have you been able to make your Communication Stone work?"

Zelda produced the small stone from her pocket, looking down at it and concentrating on Lynaka's corresponding stone. Nothing happened, and she sighed in frustration. "No," she said. "It is odd; this has never happened before."

Impa scowled. "Mine is not working, either. It is almost as if it is being blocked."

Zelda frowned. It was so frustrating, not knowing what was happening; as a princess, and her mother's heir, preparing to one day rule her homeland, she was used to being constantly updated on all the major events. For the last several years, she had been listening in as her mother's advisors informed the Queen about the latest developments in the slaver wars or reported progress on the various building projects being undertaken.

To be trapped in the middle of an expansive jungle, with no way to contact her mother or anyone else, and with no way to quickly leave it, was utterly unlike any situation she had found herself in before.

But, they were far from helpless; everyone in their group was a skilled fighter, and she and Lynaka had parts of the Triforce, besides.

The situation may have been difficult, but Zelda knew they would find their way out of it somehow.

---

* * *

---

Lynaka stopped inside the temple's lobby, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness inside. She lifted her torch, making sure to keep it well away from her face, and moved farther inside the large, damp room. It was blessedly cool inside, shielded from the elements by the mostly intact walls.

Behind her came Daskin, with his own torch, and Erike, who was finishing hers, tying off the strips of bark she'd wrapped around one end of a stout branch like the others. Daskin reached back with his torch, and she touched the head of her torch to his, waiting until it finally caught fire.

Once all three of them had a viable source of illumination, they moved deeper into the temple, looking around at the ancient stone walls, covered in swirling circular patterns with occasional inscriptions in an alphabet Lynaka did not recognize.

The flickering orange light from the torches cast dancing shadows on the long-darkened walls, throwing oddly distorted silhouettes of the three of them over the carvings.

This first room past the entrance was a long, wide hall with an uncomfortably low ceiling, only a few inches above the tall Daskin's head. It felt claustrophobic in here despite the room's size, damp and dark like a long-quiet tomb. It was also oddly silent in here; Lynaka could hear no sound besides her sister and Daskin's footsteps and their quiet breathing, occasionally punctuated by popping and crackling from their torches.

Cautiously, Lynaka moved forward, carefully avoiding the thick roots of trees that had grown inside the temple during its long period of neglect. Vines and moss covered most surfaces, except one area, which was blackened in a starburst pattern, as if a powerful stream of energy had impacted there. Lynaka examined this for a moment, but was unable to identify what could have caused such a marking, so she moved on.

As they moved into the next room, the ceiling drew away, much higher in the hall beyond the entrance. There were also a number of high, narrow windows, through which the sunlight streamed in a series of beams like ethereal, glowing ribbons draped along the walls. Lynaka marveled at this, thinking that, despite the centuries of neglect, this area was still impressive, somehow beautiful despite its decay. The way the sunlight played along the walls gave the room an otherworldly feel, muting the colors slightly as if to create an air of reverence.

Lynaka examined the room as she moved a few steps further. Aside from the high ceiling and the windows, the hall was lined with square, smoothly cut stone pillars, fashioned without using mortar. More of the swirling circular patterns flowed around and over the pillars, partially covered with moss and other grime. The air was generally one of neglect, as if the building had been abandoned for a very long time.

A long, low table made of stone sat in the very middle of the floor, illuminated by a long skylight cut through the ceiling above. At the moment, a beam of sunlight hit it about three-quarters of the way down, nearest the end farthest from Lynaka. The table or altar was mostly covered in moss and dirt, but parts of an intricate engraving could be seen, combining patterns of long, angled lines with more of the mysterious script.

It drew her attention for some reason, and Lynaka moved further into the room to give the altar a closer look. She warily watched the walls and the floor, on the lookout for booby traps, but so far there appeared to be none.

Lynaka reached out to touch the altar, and as she did, she was startled by a sudden golden glow from the back of her hand. With a bright flash, her Triforce manifested itself, gradually dimming to a dull golden light.

Intrigued, Lynaka stuck her torch in a bracket on the wall and moved her hand over the altar, noticing that her marking glowed brighter the closer she moved her hand to the center of the altar. When she finally reached the middle of the altar, she spotted a smooth, narrow groove beneath the moss and caked dirt, almost like an impression of a finger.

"What's going on?" Daskin asked behind her, walking forward to look at her brightly glowing hand. "What's up with…" he gestured at her marking, "that thing?"

"I'm not sure," Lynaka replied, excited. She'd never seen anything like this before, and she wondered what was making her Triforce react like this. She did not understand her piece of the Golden Power as well as she would like, but she could tell this was not an ordinary occurrence.

She reached out and swept the dirt out of the groove in the center of the table, exposing several more and a palm, confirming her earlier guess that the carving was a hand. In the center of the palm was a Triforce marking, a triangle made up of three smaller triangles, with the lower right triangle, the one representing Courage, slightly larger than the other two to emphasize it.

Lynaka placed her hand on the cool stone inside the stone handprint, lining up the heel of her hand with the base. The carved fingers were longer than hers, making her think that whatever hand this was meant to represent must have been much bigger than hers. The hand was almost as big as her father's, though the fingers were not as thick.

As soon as her hand was lined up with the carving, her Triforce lit up again, becoming almost uncomfortably bright. Lynaka brought her other hand up to shield her face, and as she did so, she noticed another figure in the room, one definitely not her sister or Daskin.

The man, who was tall and broad-shouldered, with a slender build, stood silently for a moment, looking right at her with eyes the color of sapphires. His hair was blond, long and tousled, reaching nearly to his shoulders. He wore a shirt of chain-mail over a long-sleeved white shirt, his forearms protected by leather bracers, but over the chain-mail he wore a sleeveless green tunic. A sword hung at his side, and he held a long purple-blue staff capped with a golden metal ball in one hand, its other end resting on the floor.

As she looked at the man, Lynaka realized he was slightly transparent, the colors of his clothes seemingly brighter than they should have been, and a subtle glow surrounded him.

"Greetings, Hero," the man said, looking right at Lynaka. His voice had a strange echo to it, an almost wavering tinge, like he was speaking through a long metal tube, though that did not quite describe it as well as Lynaka would have liked.

"Who are-" Lynaka started to ask him, but he spoke again.

"My name is Link Fenris," the man continued, "and I am the Hero of Lightning. I have likely been gone for a great many years if you have come to this temple in search of what I sought here." The Hero of Lightning frowned darkly, still looking right at Lynaka. "This location is too open, the weapon the wizard Majacen and I found here much too dangerous. We have taken it with us, and will hide it in another place, one not so easy to find. The weapon this temple housed must never fall into the hands of the Enemy."

Lynaka noticed an odd emphasis on 'Enemy', as if he was referring to a specific person and not just Hyrule's enemies in general. "What enemy?" she asked him.

"If you wish to wield the weapon for yourself," the Hero of Lightning continued as if he hadn't heard her, "seek the Mountain of Fire's southern twin."

"What?" Lynaka asked, moving forward, closer to the man. Oddly, his gaze remained on where she had been, and it was then Lynaka realized that he was not truly here; this was merely an image, some sort of recording, though she had no idea how such a thing was possible.

"Majacen and I have found many relics you will likely find useful in your own quest," Link Fenris continued, still looking at the spot next to the handprint on the altar. "It is our earnest hope that none of the Triforce Bearers ever need to leave their country, but if you are hearing these words, dire need has driven you here into the heart of the jungle in search of tools against your enemy."

Lynaka moved back to where she had been, so that the image was looking at her and not the wall, still listening intently.

"My staff I will leave in Hyrule," the Hero of Lightning said, raising the weapon, "though you may have found it already. It is a potent weapon, though I have found many more relics of the ancient war between the gods in my travels. Majacen and I will store them in the Heavenly Vault, deep beneath the earth under the southern Mountain of Fire."

"What war between the gods?" Lynaka said aloud, wishing the image could answer her. She had never heard of any such thing.

He gestured to Lynaka, though, because of the angle at which the image was standing, as well as her own position, he indicated the wall more than her. "Your piece of the Golden Power will allow you access to the vault, Hero, though you must go in alone." The Hero of Lightning's features hardened into a gravely serious warning expression. "Majacen will construct a powerful barrier around the vault, one that only those chosen by the gods may pass. You must leave any mortal companions behind."

Link Fenris' expression brightened, and he smiled slightly. "I hope Majacen is with you, watching this, but if he is not, I recommend that you seek him out, Hero. He has been a great aid to me, a teacher and a friend, and if he still wanders the world in your time, he will be the same to you."

Surprising Lynaka, the Hero's image brought one fist up to his opposite shoulder in the traditional Gerudo sign of respect. She then recalled from one of the stories she had heard about him that he had come to her people to learn the ways of the sword. Almost unconsciously, she returned the salute.

"I will leave you with this, Hero," he said. "Though the odds may seem against you and the situation grim, the gods are on your side. Have faith, and you will prevail."

Link Fenris bowed slightly, smiling again. "Farewell."

With that, the image slowly faded away.

Lynaka stared at the place where the image of her predecessor had stood for a few more seconds, trying to process what he had said. She was a Hero now, the same as this man, though she did not even know what threat she was supposed to combat, why she had been chosen to receive a piece of the Golden Power.

Southern twin of the Mountain of Fire? What was that supposed to mean? And what was this Heavenly Vault?

Lynaka turned to her companions, hoping to discuss it with them, and found Erike staring at the place where the Hero of Lightning had been with an expression of wonderment, her eyes filled with questions. Lynaka could tell her sister, too, wished that they could have actually spoken to the ancient Hero rather than just hear his message.

Daskin, on the other hand, seemed conflicted, unsure. Part of him was clearly in awe at seeing a figure from history, but another part seemed almost angry, though she was not sure why. He looked back at her, nervously averting his gaze almost immediately, but suddenly, his eyes locked on something just over her shoulder, and his hand dropped to his sword.

Lynaka heard a quiet footstep behind her, and she tensed her muscles, preparing to whirl around as she drew her scimitar. Before she could, however, she felt the cold, sharp prick of a steel point at the base of her neck.

"Don't move," a male voice said in Hylian behind her.

Lynaka tensed further, still intending to whirl around, but she noticed several dark-clothed figures, wearing gloves and face-covering masks, moving up behind her sister and Daskin in the dim light, swords in their hands. One of them, noticing her tensed muscles, pointedly raised its sword so that the point rested on Erike's collarbone, glaring challengingly back at her.

"What do you want?" Lynaka said, her eyes narrowed in threat. If they hurt her sister, it would be the last move the entire group made. She didn't care how many of them there were.

Daskin glared over her shoulder at the figure holding its sword to her back, his hand still on his own sword. Lynaka shook her head slightly, to silently warn him not to do anything yet.

"Who are you, and why are you here?" the man behind her said calmly, though he pressed the tip of his weapon slightly harder into the back of her neck.

"My name is Lynaka," she said, slowly raising her hand to show the man the Triforce marking on the back. "This is my sister, Erike, and our friend Daskin. We are here seeking shelter for the rest of our group."

The sharp pricking of the sword at her neck vanished, though it had never been hard enough to draw blood. The man behind her stepped around to stand between her and the rest of the figures, quickly waving with sharp hand movements for them to lower their weapons.

He reached up and pulled off his mask, revealing pale skin, close-cropped silver-white hair, and red eyes. To Lynaka's surprise, he was a Sheikah, like Impa, though he was much older than the princess' bodyguard, perhaps in his late fifties or early sixties.

"My name is Viktor," he told her. "I am a Sheikah agent with the Hyrule Army, scouting the path ahead for the main force. We spotted this structure and decided to investigate, when we found you here."

He gave her a critical once-over, as if assessing potential strengths and weaknesses. "What are two Gerudo and a human doing this far south? You are not part of the force from Hyrule." He gestured to her hand. "Though you are a Triforce Bearer."

"Yes," Lynaka said, nodding. "I did not intend to come here; I was far to the north of here when a great storm seized our airship and blew us to this jungle. There are two more in my group: the Crown Princess Zelda and her Sheikah bodyguard, Impa."

Viktor nodded sharply, gesturing behind himself to two members of his team, then snapped his fingers. The two Sheikah left, moving as soft and quick as shadows. The others relaxed their posture, moving away from Daskin and Erike until they almost melted into the shadows pooling around the edges of the room.

"We will take you to the army," Viktor said. "We can at least offer you shelter, though our commander will wish to speak to you."

"Who's your commander?" Daskin asked. Lynaka noticed he was still tense, one hand resting on the hilt of his weapon. He seemed very nervous, though she could not see why.

"Grand Marshal Ashei is on leave," Viktor said, half turning to look at the young man, "so the army is commanded at present by Lord Fenris."

Daskin became visibly more tense at this, his knuckles white around the hilt of his sword. "I'll pass, thanks," he said tightly. "I'd better stay with the _Phoenix_."

"Lord Viserys' forces are aiding this campaign, under the command of his son Lord Aeron," Viktor said. "We will bring your airship to our camp where it can be repaired." He looked at Daskin curiously. "What makes you nervous, boy? We can help you."

"Well, I just…" Daskin trailed off, looking back at the Sheikah helplessly.

What _was_ making him so nervous? Lynaka wondered what could possibly upset him about encountering friendly forces in the middle of an unfamiliar jungle.

"You're coming with us," Viktor said brusquely, as if impatient with Daskin. "Move."

* * *

It was two hours' walk back to the army's encampment. Along the way, they'd picked up Zelda and Impa while the rest of Viktor's team tried to find a way to get the _Phoenix_ out of the tree.

Lynaka looked up through the dense foliage as she followed Viktor and Impa, who were talking quietly at the head of the line. The sun was slowly going down, light fading from the already dim jungle, so she was glad she still had her torch.

Ahead of her, Daskin's shoulders were extremely tense, his knuckles white around his own torch, and though she could not see his face, Lynaka could tell Daskin was growing progressively more and more nervous as they drew closer to the Hyrule Army's encampment. He seemed ready to bolt off into the jungle at any moment, and probably would have, if not for the number of Sheikah surrounding them in a loose guard formation.

Concerned, she moved forward and touched her friend's shoulder. He flinched, but relaxed slightly as he turned to look at her.

"What is it?" Lynaka asked him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Daskin said, attempting to sound casual, but his voice was tense nonetheless. "I just want to get out of this jungle," he said, shakily attempting a smile.

"We're here," Viktor announced from the head of the line.

Lynaka looked past him, and though she saw nothing but more jungle at first, she could hear the noise of many people in close quarters, voices talking and metal clanking, mixed with the whinny of horses and the dull thud of something heavy being moved. She also heard an odd sort of whirring, like the noise the _Phoenix_'s propellers made, but much, much louder and stronger.

As the group moved into a wide clearing next to the banks of a river, she saw dozens upon dozens of tents, stretching back out of sight into the jungle, with hundreds of people moving between them, dressed in a variety of uniforms. The majority of them wore the uniform of Hyrule's army, with a red phoenix and a Triforce symbol emblazoned on the front, but Lynaka could also see many men and women dressed in blue tunics and black pants, the uniform of the Balacruf nation, ruled by Viserys. Several of them looked over at their group, and Zelda greeted a few of them by name, smiling as they returned her greeting.

Viktor and his team herded them toward the largest of the tents on the Hyrulian side of the encampment, which, while relatively plain, with not much in the way of decoration, still clearly belonged to an important person.

Zelda and Impa were the first inside the tent, followed by Lynaka, Daskin, and Erike. Lynaka saw that the inside of the tent was about as plain as the outside, with little in the way of decoration, but the floor was covered with a canvas sheet, a small table and three chairs set up in the middle. A small cot sat against one wall of the tent, next to an armor stand that was currently empty but for the weapons belt hanging from it.

Shortly after they entered, a Hylian man in his late forties, dressed in a suit of red-and-gold armor, a helmet tucked under one arm, walked into the tent. His hair was a dark blond color, trimmed short, and his eyes were a deep blue, the same color as the image of the Hero of Lightning. He looked them over with a sharp but not hostile gaze, one Lynaka recognized as that of a warrior so used to scrutinizing everything around him for potential threats that the habit was likely unconscious by now.

Aside from a bit more gray in his hair and a few more lines around his eyes, Link Fenris, former Hero of Light, looked much the same as the last time Lynaka had seen him, almost ten years ago.

He smiled broadly as he recognized Zelda, and he set his helmet on the table as he moved forward to warmly clasp her hand. "Your Highness," he said, "it is good to see you, though I have to admit I didn't know you were coming."

"I did not plan to join you, Lord Fenris," Zelda replied with a trace of amusement in her voice, smiling slightly. "Our being here was a surprise to us as well."

Lynaka chuckled quietly at this.

Link smiled also as he glanced up at the rest of the group, but as he looked at Daskin, an odd, thoughtful frown slowly replaced his smile.

"Daskin?" he said quietly, surprised.

Daskin sighed heavily. "Hello, Dad."

---

* * *

Author's Note: First off, much thanks to Seldavia and Desteni for their help with this chapter. Second, I highly recommend you go check out the latest art based on my stories by Silverwolf05. The pic to which I am referring is entitled 'Back to Back', and is in the 'Story-Related' folder of my Favorites on DeviantArt. While you're there, feel free to look at the other art in the collection if you haven't already, and the galleries of the various artists who've contributed. I've been ridiculously lucky in having some talented people volunteer to create art for my stories, so be sure to show your appreciation, too.

Finally, as of this posting, Chapter 6 is completely written and I'm well into Chapter 7, but I still have editing work to do, so it will be a week or so before the next update. Til then, thanks for reading!


	6. Family Matters

Six

Zelda turned to Daskin, surprised at what he had just said to Lord Fenris, addressing him as his father. The others around her seemed to be equally surprised, except for Erike, who appeared to be quietly satisfied, as if something she had suspected had just been confirmed.

She knew Lord Fenris and his wife had had a son, but she thought he stayed with his mother in the Twilight Realm most of the time. Zelda dimly recalled meeting Link and Midna's son a very long time ago, but somehow she hadn't been able to connect that boy to Daskin.

In front of her, Lord Fenris smiled broadly, quickly moving past her to stand in front of Daskin. The young man was taller than the former Hero, and Zelda could see that he was clearly uncomfortable as he looked down at his father, despite the attitude of everyone else in the room.

"Your mother and I haven't heard anything from you in so long," Link said, somehow managing to sound both happy and reproving at the same time. "We thought something had happened to you."

"Yeah, well," Daskin said, self-consciously glancing around at the others, "I haven't had much chance to write letters the last few months."

Link's smile faded entirely at this, and he turned to look at Zelda. "Your Highness, I must ask your forgiveness, but would you please excuse me? I would like to speak to my son."

Zelda nodded. "Of course, Lord Fenris. We will speak later."

He bowed slightly in acknowledgment, and Zelda turned to leave his tent, followed by the others.

As soon as they were outside and a little ways into the encampment, Impa announced, "I knew he was hiding something."

Erike nodded. "I did, as well. Something he said in the temple Lynaka and I explored with him made me suspect."

"But why would he hide the fact that he's the Hero's son?" Lynaka said curiously. "I would be proud to have such a man as my father."

Zelda noted that such a statement carried more weight coming from a Gerudo than someone from a different culture; the desert people generally regarded a non-Gerudo father as unimportant, since the warrior women almost completely took after their mothers. This was not the case with Lynaka's own family, but her statement was still very high praise.

"As would I," Zelda agreed aloud, looking back at Lord Fenris' tent, where she could see the shadows of Link and Daskin on the walls. She could hear their muffled voices slowly building into what was quickly sounding like an argument.

"I think I met Daskin once when we were children," Zelda said to the others, "but he didn't look like he does now; he looked more like his mother, Midna." She glanced back at the tent. "But his eyes were blue; I do remember that."

"Their eyes are the same," Erike said quietly, gesturing at the tent and the two men inside it.

Lynaka nodded. "Yes, they are." She shook her head amusedly. "I know Lord Fenris; how did I not see it sooner?"

"I know him better than you, and I didn't see it, either," Zelda said, smiling slightly. "Though his visits are seldom, he's like an uncle to me." She smiled wryly, thinking of the Emperor of Calatia and his brothers. "I like him better than my real uncles, I think," she joked, though she did mean it.

Lynaka laughed lightly, nodding in agreement. "What do you think they're talking about in there?" she asked, gesturing to the tent. The shadows were still moving, Zelda saw, but she could no longer quite make out their voices. What _were_ they talking about?

---

* * *

---

"So," Link said to Daskin, crossing his arms over his chest as the others left the tent, "I take it you didn't mean to come here?"

"Well, no," Daskin admitted, self-consciously glancing back at the door flap as it fell closed behind the last of the girls as they departed.

"We were in a… storm of some kind," Daskin said, glancing back up at his father. "Made us crash here."

Link nodded silently, his face expressionless, but his eyes gave away what he was thinking; he was certainly happy to see Daskin again, but there was a bit of anger there as well. Understandable, Daskin thought, as he and his parents had not exactly parted on the best of terms. To describe it as an argument was to understate it dramatically.

"Did you find whatever it was you went looking for?" Link asked, his voice again carefully measured on the surface, but heavily laced with something Daskin couldn't quite make out, probably anger or resentment.

Daskin sighed. "Look, Dad," he began. "I know what I said to you and Mom when I left was stupid and immature. I had no right to say those kinds of things to you, but I…" he trailed off helplessly, unable to think of what to say to continue.

Link just met his eyes calmly, arms still crossed over his chest. His armor rattled quietly as he shifted position slightly. His posture was exactly the same as Daskin could remember, every time he'd tried to lie his way out of trouble when he was younger and his father just stood there, clearly seeing through whatever he was making up. So, Daskin decided to just tell the truth.

"I was scared, okay?" he said, letting more heat into his tone than he meant. "I've wanted to come back for a long time, but I… I wasn't sure you'd want me back."

Link's expression remained passive, his tone deceptively calm. "Is that how you think of us?" he asked.

"Well, how should I know?" Daskin shouted back, letting his embarrassment and his nervousness get the better of him. He knew he was wrong, even as he said it, but it was like he couldn't control himself.

"You'd rather stay here and fight wars for your queen than spend any time with us, anyway," Daskin went on, gesturing angrily. "You're my father, but I feel like I barely know you."

He wanted to take it back as soon as the words left his mouth. He knew he was wrong, knew that wasn't the reason his father spent so much time in the Light World, but it seemed like their last argument was determined to repeat itself.

"Well, you certainly didn't do anything to change that, did you?" Link replied, anger in his tone now. "I offered to let you come with me, but you'd rather spend time with your idiot friends and pull childish pranks than actually take some responsibility for yourself. Look at you!" Link pointed at his son. "You're twenty-three years old, Daskin, older than I was when I married your mother. But you haven't grown up at all, have you? You're still the same spoiled little boy who shouted at us and ran away, aren't you?" Now Link was shouting himself, and Daskin felt his anger coming to a boil. This was the fight they'd had when he had left all over again.

"Have you taken any responsibility?" Link took a step closer, anger and frustration burning behind his deep blue eyes, eyes almost the same as Daskin's own. "Have you done anything to prove you're a man now?"

His father was shouting things at him that he'd inwardly shouted at himself a hundred times, but Daskin didn't feel like agreeing; he went on the defensive, though inwardly he knew he really had no right to.

"Hey, I've-"

"You've what?" Link interrupted, taking another step closer. "What have you done? What have you done, boy, that justifies running away, spending eight years, _eight years_ without coming back to us? Huh?" Link jabbed his son in the chest with a stiff finger. "You think your mother and I are so cruel we aren't going to take you back? You think we're so petty we're going to let some stupid words come between us?" He grabbed Daskin by the collar and tightly bunched the material in his fist, his voice low and quiet, like it got when he was very, very angry. "Do you really think so little of us that you genuinely thought we didn't want to see you again?"

And in that moment, Daskin realized his father wasn't really angry. He was frightened.

His father, the man who had killed a dozen monsters that by all rights should have killed him, had waded through armies sent by the Dark Lords, even faced down the Dark Lords themselves, all without fear, was genuinely scared. Not for himself, Daskin knew, but for him, his son. As if something snapped in his mind, a sudden light burst in and cast illumination on what was really happening.

Link had spent every moment, Daskin knew, wondering what was going on, where his son was, if he was all right, and why he wouldn't come back. He'd hurt his father very deeply, Daskin realized, not only by running away, but by staying away for so long. He couldn't even imagine what he'd done to his mother, how she felt about all this.

He had realized his reasons for running away from his parents were stupid and immature a long time ago, but somehow, he'd never been able to summon the courage to go back. The horrible things he'd said kept echoing back in his mind, mocking him, reminding him that he'd burned the bridge behind himself when he ran. He had actually told his mother and father that he hated them, Daskin thought with a wince.

How stupid. How incredibly stupid. His father was right; he and his mother would truly have to be the worst sort of people to genuinely not want him back, and they weren't. They were anything but.

"I'm sorry," Daskin said quietly.

Link let go of Daskin's shirt and took a step back, breathing heavily. The anger slowly faded from his face, and he nodded once. Surprising Daskin, he stepped forward and enfolded him in an embrace. "I'm sorry, too," he said, just as quietly. "I know I could have handled that better."

Daskin chuckled, leaving one arm draped around his father's shoulders. "Hey, it's just not a proper family talk without a little shouting," he joked, trying to lighten the mood.

Link shook his head amusedly. "Still making jokes, huh?"

Daskin grinned. "Keeps me in trouble."

Link laughed. "It's good to see you, son."

"It's good to see you, too, Dad," Daskin said, sobering. "It's been much too long, I know."

The former Hero took a deep breath and sighed quietly. Then he gave a dismissive wave of his hand. "It's in the past," he said. "Not worth being mad about anymore." He flexed his shoulders beneath his armor, grunting quietly as he attempted to work a knot out of his back, then gestured outside. "If you don't mind, I need to talk to your friends, too," he said.

"Sure," Daskin replied. "I'll go get them."

---

* * *

---

Zelda looked up as Daskin leaned out of the tent's door. He raised his eyebrows at them in comic surprise. "You weren't eavesdropping?" he said in mock-astonishment. "And here I thought you couldn't resist that. Looks like I have a few things left to learn about women after all."

Lynaka fixed him with what Zelda thought was intended to be a glare, but somehow became an amused smile instead. Zelda laughed lightly; watching the two of them tease each other was getting more fun all the time.

Daskin opened the tent's door a little further and waved them over. "My dad wants to talk to you guys."

They went inside Link's tent, where the former Hero, Zelda and Lynaka sat down at his table. Impa, Daskin and Erike remained standing. Zelda and Lynaka told Link about Lynaka's mission from her mother, and what they had found at the pyramid in the desert and the fortress in the north, including a detailed account of what they had both felt as they received their pieces of the Triforce and what they had been able to translate so far from Ganondorf's manuscript.

When they were finished, Link leaned back in his chair and frowned thoughtfully, looking down at the Dark Lord's tome, sitting in the middle of the table in front of them. "I did not think the Triforce would have been split again so soon," he said, looking up at Lynaka. "You're the Hero now, are you?"

Lynaka nodded, but then shrugged helplessly. "I do not know why, though," she said. "Or why I was chosen."

Link smiled knowingly. "I know what you mean," he said. "When my friends were kidnapped from my home village, I only thought about trying to save them. I had no idea what I was getting myself into." He gestured to her hand, the one with the Triforce marking. "I felt lost for the first few days, confused. The fact that I was transformed into a beast didn't help at all," he said with a wink.

Lynaka laughed. "My father says it took him a long time to understand his piece of the Triforce, and even longer to understand why it was given to him in the first place."

Zelda nodded; her mother had told her, during a few of her stories about her adventures as a young woman, that she had helped Arnak to learn how to use the Triforce of Power. By the end of the war, he had become almost terrifyingly powerful, and Zelda's mother still said occasionally how glad she was that Arnak had been able to control himself. If he had let go, let his power control him, he would have become the worst sort of monster, one that she and Link combined still might not have been able to stop.

Combined with all the other threats they had been facing, Zelda's mother said, it would have finished them, and Ganondorf or Raneses, or both, would control the world right now. Zelda herself had had nightmares about that thankfully avoided turn of fate. The Oocca War had been closer than many in Hyrule preferred to think, so close to disaster and a new dark age.

As the others talked about the Triforce of Courage and the wars the former Hero had fought, the princess' thoughts turned to her own situation. She had the Triforce of Wisdom now, had taken up the role her mother had held, but she might very well be faced with the situation her mother had so dreaded; there was the distinct possibility that the present Bearer of Power was her enemy, as Ganondorf had been before his defeat at the hands of the man sitting next to her at the table.

What would she do against such a powerful opponent? Power was easily the most potent of the three Triforce pieces, though each had their advantages. Would she and Lynaka be able to stand up against their counterpart, if his heart was turned to malice?

Zelda's thoughts came back to the present when she perceived that the others had stopped talking and were getting up.

"I feel like taking a walk," Daskin said to Lynaka. "You want to come with me?"

"Sure," Lynaka said, resting a hand on the hilt of her scimitar as she got up.

Zelda could tell both through her perceptions of his emotions and his expression that Daskin wanted to talk to the current Hero alone, so she refrained from asking to come along. She hid a smile; Horys looked at her like that all the time, more often, it seemed, the closer the date of their wedding approached. He might be here, even, Zelda thought, eagerly looking forward to seeing him again.

As Daskin and Lynaka left the tent, Lord Fenris looked down at her with a friendly expression. "Your fiancé's brother Aeron is here," Link said. "I need to talk to a few of the commanders before dinner, so I can send for him if you'd like."

Zelda nodded, smiling. "Please."

As Link went outside, Zelda's thoughts drifted back to the Bearer of Power and all the strange things that had happened to them since she and Lynaka had received pieces of the Triforce.

At least one powerful magic user actively opposed them, she knew. Was this mysterious mage the Bearer of Power, or someone else? Was this person the reason Communication Stones weren't working, or was that the result of some other phenomenon?

It was, Zelda thought, especially aggravating to have more questions than answers, especially about matters like these.

---

* * *

---

Lynaka looked over at Daskin as they started off on a wandering course through the camp. "So what did you want to talk about? You didn't ask me out here to enjoy the scenery."

Daskin grinned amusedly. "What, you don't appreciate the aesthetic value of an army camp?"

He stepped around a pungent pile in his path left by someone's horse, grimacing slightly, and Lynaka laughed.

As they continued on, making a wide circle around the edge of the busy camp, Daskin was quiet for a few moments, looking unusually serious.

"I'm… sorry," he said finally.

"For?" Lynaka asked, a bit puzzled.

"For not telling you who I was," he said, kicking a small branch out of his way. He looked over at her, his blue eyes intense. "I should have told you who my parents were right when we met."

Lynaka nodded. "I have to say, I wondered why you didn't when I found out. Why didn't you want us to know?"

Daskin shrugged, glancing off into the jungle. "Well, that's kind of complicated, but I guess the easiest answer is that I wanted you guys to like me for me, not who my parents are." He looked over at her. "I mean, what would you have thought if I'd told you, 'hey, I'm the Hero's son, I think I should come along because I want to be just like my daddy'?" He smirked as he said the last part, and she had to laugh again.

"That's exactly what I _didn't_ want people to think," Daskin said, becoming serious again. "When I left home, I wanted to make it on my own, as me, not as a Hero's son or a prince. I wanted people to judge me based on what _I_ had done, not what my parents had done before I was born."

"I can understand that," Lynaka said. "I've felt that way myself a few times. I used to be intimidated by my parents, my father especially, because I knew I could never accomplish the kind of things they had."

Daskin smiled wryly. "It was the same way with me, though I'm positive you learned to deal with it a lot better than I did." He gestured back off in the direction of his father's tent. "I ended up running away from home and not talking to them for eight years."

He held up a hand, interrupting what she had been about to say. "And before you give me a funny look or a lecture," he said, glancing over at her, "I _know_ it was stupid. It's probably the stupidest thing I've ever done, and that's really saying something." He smirked. "My parents can tell you all about that."

Lynaka half-smiled, glancing out at the bustle of the camp as they passed a row of tents, and she nodded to a sentry, who nodded back before returning his attention to the jungle.

"So," Daskin said half-jokingly, "feel any different now that you know I'm the Hero's son?"

"No, I find you just as annoying as before," Lynaka said teasingly. Daskin adopted a comically exaggerated hurt look, and she laughed.

His smile faded, and he stopped, meeting her eyes with a serious expression. "Anything I can do to help you with getting rid of your people's curse, I will," he said. "My mother is extremely powerful, and knows a lot about magic and curses. She may be able to help you figure out exactly what the Blood Curse is, which is the first step to finding a way to break it." Daskin looked up at the sky, mostly hidden by the jungle canopy above. "Whatever sorcerer put the curse on your people had to be very powerful," he said thoughtfully. "My ancestors, the ones who were banished to the Twilight Realm, may have known something about him, so maybe there's something about your Blood Curse in our royal archives."

Lynaka was surprised; she hadn't thought of that. From what she knew of history, the Blood Curse had gone into effect long before the civil war in which the Dark Interlopers were banished to the Twilight Realm. It was entirely possible the mages from which the Twili were descended had researched the subject and taken their knowledge with them into banishment.

"Besides," Daskin said, grinning as he looked over at her, "it'd give me a good excuse to learn some more magic from my mother; you're going to need all the help you can get."

"Well," Lynaka said, cocking a teasing eyebrow, "it's about time you were good for something. You've been pretty useless up till now."

Leaving Daskin open-mouthed, trying to come up with a suitable comeback, Lynaka grinned and sauntered off, flipping him a teasing wave as she left him behind.

"Hey!"

---

* * *

---

Erike looked up as Lord Fenris' aide returned with another man, who followed him inside the tent. Their shadows passed the silent figure of Impa, who had taken up station outside the tent while Zelda was inside, and Erike heard a quiet greeting, which the Sheikah warrior returned.

The man the aide had fetched was tall, with a slender build and a noble, almost aristocratic bearing, though he had no trace of arrogance in his demeanor. His hair was mostly dark brown, though it was streaked with large amounts of gray. This was at odds with his young face; by all appearances, the man couldn't have been more than a few years older than Lynaka, Erike thought.

His eyes were a striking shade of violet, intense and focused, and though Erike tried not to stare impolitely, he was the only person with eyes that color she had ever seen, and she found them fascinating. His uniform marked him as a Balacruf soldier, though unlike the other uniforms she had seen, he had a bit of silver trim around the edges of his jacket, and he wore a long black cloak clasped with a silver falcon's-head pin. A sword hung from his belt, and Erike noticed immediately from the way he moved that he knew how to use it; he moved with the easy grace of a warrior with long hours of practice and experience.

The man smiled broadly as he entered the tent, looking first at Zelda. "Zelda!" he said, at once surprised and friendly. "They told me you were here." He moved to clasp her hand warmly, and she smiled back at him.

"It is good to see you, Aeron," Zelda replied, "though, as I was just telling Lord Fenris, my visit was not on my official schedule." She smiled as she said this, and from the way Aeron laughed, Erike thought it to be a reference to some private joke. Her father laughed like that when her mother teased him about 'capturing' him when they first met.

"Well, it is good to have you here anyway," Aeron said. "I wish Horys was here, as well, but as fate would have it, he's just left for Hyrule to see you."

"He has?" Zelda said, surprised, and, Erike thought, disappointed that her fiancé was not here. "He hadn't told me he was coming."

Aeron smiled amusedly. "It was supposed to be a surprise. He'd been missing you lately, so I told him to just go and stop annoying me with talking about you so much."

He and Zelda both laughed at this, and Erike shifted slightly, waiting for them to finish. She thought it would be rude to just leave, but she also did not want to intrude on Zelda and her future brother-in-law's conversation.

Aeron's sharp-eyed gaze was attracted by her movement, and while his eyes were not hostile, the same as Lord Fenris', she could tell Aeron was also long used to constantly observing everything around him for potential threats.

He smiled again as he looked over at her, the unsettling raptor set to his eyes fading almost immediately. "Where are my manners?" he said, taking a step toward her. "I should have introduced myself." He bowed slightly. "I am Aeron."

"Erike," she said, "daughter of Nabooru and Arnak."

Aeron's eyebrows rose slightly in recognition. "Ah, you are Arnak's daughter," he said politely. "My father and yours fought together in the war."

Erike nodded. "My father always said Lord Viserys was a man to be respected."

Aeron smiled slightly. "My father said much the same thing about yours, though the word he used was actually 'feared'. He saw Arnak do things with the Triforce of Power that… greatly concerned him."

Erike nodded again. Her father had always been honest about what he had done during the war, and while he knew his actions were justified, it still disturbed him that he had caused so much destruction and death.

Aeron continued when she did not make a further reply. "Still, my father had a great deal of respect for Arnak as well. It is a pleasure to meet you, Erike."

Erike inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Will your people be able to repair the _Phoenix_?" she said, asking the question she knew Zelda was about to ask herself.

Aeron glanced back over at the princess as he nodded. "The damage is quite severe," he said, speaking to both of them, "but my mechanics should be able to get it airworthy in only a few days. I've already put them to work on it."

"Thank you," Zelda replied. "I am most grateful."

Aeron grinned teasingly. "May I consider it my wedding present?" he said, a twinkle in his eye.

Zelda laughed, and Aeron chuckled. Erike, unsure of what to do, remained silent.

"The wedding is not for another three months," Zelda said, teasing him right back. "If you are truly so parsimonious…"

Aeron laughed out loud at this. "Only a princess would use a five-syllable word to insult someone," he said, grinning. He turned to Erike as if confiding a secret. "Please, do not let my sister-in-law trick you into thinking less of my character. I am not a miser by any means."

Erike nodded once, not sure what reaction he expected from her.

He smiled as he turned back to Zelda. "My ship is providing air support for this campaign, and while I would gladly give you and your companions transportation back to Hyrule, Lord Fenris plans to assault the next slaver city in two days, and _Auric Raptor_ is needed to 'pave the way', as it were. I cannot spare any of my support ships for that long, but the _Phoenix_ should be repaired shortly, as I said."

Zelda nodded. "I would like to return to Hyrule as soon as possible, but we can wait, if necessary."

"What sort of ship is _Auric Raptor_?" Erike asked, curious. Her father had told her much of the Balacruf and their ships that could sail through the sky, and she wanted to see one of the bigger ships up close.

"She's a warship," Aeron answered. "Capital-class. First of her class, actually. My father and several of his engineers recently refined our designs, so as a result, my ship is now lighter than the previous generation of capital ships, and more maneuverable, without sacrificing any of the armor plating or heavy weaponry."

Erike nodded. "May I see it?" she asked.

Aeron nodded. "Of course." He smiled, a gently reproving expression on his face. "But ships are always referred to as female," he said. "It's an old sailors' tradition, and my grandfather carried it over to the first airships."

Erike nodded again, storing this fact away.

Aeron gestured out of the tent, glancing back at Zelda. "Lord Fenris and I usually dine aboard the _Raptor_ with the other officers. I would be honored if your group joined us this evening."

Zelda nodded. "Thank you, Aeron. I would be delighted."

Aeron smiled at Erike. "Perhaps before dinner, I can give you a quick tour of my vessel, if you like."

Erike smiled in return. "Thank you."

Aeron indicated the entrance to the tent again. "I will take you there, then."

---

* * *

---

Lynaka and Daskin joined the others and Daskin's father aboard Aeron's massive airship _Auric Raptor_ for dinner. As they approached the huge warship, parked in a wide clearing a few dozen yards from the bank of the river next to the encampment, Lynaka took a moment to admire the vessel.

_Auric Raptor_ was enormous, its tremendous wingspan nearly bigger than the clearing, and Lynaka's first thought upon seeing it was that its pilot or pilots had to be extremely skilled to land the gigantic thing with such precision.

It was shaped like an enormous bird of prey, with sleek, sweeping lines, subtly reinforced by the way it was painted, mostly white with sky-blue detailing and a few sweeping gray lines, as well. Its name was written in an alphabet Lynaka had never seen before along the bow in a darker blue, the letters tilted at an angle that suggested they were being pulled back by the speed of its flight. The entire vessel gave an impression of sleek, graceful motion, despite its size and even though it was currently still.

She could see a number of cannon emplacements scattered around the vessel, positioned in such a way that it could fire at almost any angle, but most were on the lower levels of the ship, where they could fire almost straight down.

This made sense to Lynaka; since the Balacruf were currently the only people who could construct aircraft of this level of complexity, they had few threats from the sky since the end of the Oocca War. Their warships were mostly used to reinforce ground troops now, and were almost certainly a tremendous advantage, since most traditional defenses did not expect an attack from above.

The nature of war had been changed, with the advantage shifted almost completely to the Hyrulian army and their allies. Lynaka thought to herself as she approached the huge warship along with the others that it was a good thing Queen Zelda did not have further ambitions beyond eradicating the slave trade; with her allies the Balacruf and the Triforce on her side, no army in the world could stand against her. Were she so inclined, Lynaka had no doubt that the Queen could conquer the entire continent and quite probably the world, successfully completing what the Nameless One had attempted to do a quarter century ago.

Although, Lynaka thought to herself, reviewing what she knew of Hyrule's neighbors, this might not be a bad thing.

She dismissed politics from her mind as she entered the warship through a hatch at ground level, passing under one of the huge wings. That sort of thing was for others to worry about; she had her own concerns at the moment.

Inside, the _Auric Raptor_ was functional, with minimal decoration, its colors dark shades of gray, black and blue, with occasional gleaming metal fittings breaking up the mostly plain interior. The group followed Aeron's aide through a series of corridors and stairways to the dining room, where the captain of the warship waited, standing before the table.

The captain's dining room was just as subdued in its decoration as the rest of the ship, in mostly dark colors, but its long table was covered with a white tablecloth, and the dishes were of fine quality, white and silver.

Lord Fenris stood next to Aeron, changed out of his armor into a Hyrule Army uniform, but in different colors from the other uniforms she had seen; his uniform tunic was a dark forest green instead of the usual gray, with the winged Triforce emblem embroidered on the chest, the triangle a golden color and the wings in dark red.

"Welcome aboard," Aeron said, bowing slightly. He smiled politely at Lynaka as the others moved to take seats. "I don't believe we've met. You must be Lynaka, Erike's sister."

"I am," she replied. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Aeron."

He smiled. "And you as well. Please," he said, gesturing to the seat to the left of the head of the table.

Aeron sat at the head of the table, with Princess Zelda at his right and Lynaka across from her to his left. Impa sat next to her charge, and Erike sat next to her sister. Daskin glanced at his father a bit nervously, still a little uncomfortable, but sat next to him, on Erike's other side, when Link took the seat at the other end of the table, across from Aeron. Link smiled at his son and murmured something to him that made Daskin quirk a half-smile.

Another man entered a moment later and took the eighth seat, at Link's left next to Impa. Aeron introduced him as Larynce, his first officer. Larynce, a muscular man of medium height, had close-cropped dark hair and a carefully trimmed goatee. His uniform was similar to Aeron's, with silver trim, but he did not wear a cloak. He nodded politely to the others as he took his seat.

The company completed, the first course was served, and the group made light conversation as they ate. Through listening to the others and talking to Aeron and Lord Fenris, Lynaka learned that the slaver wars were going well, but the slavers were proving troublesomely difficult to finish off. Both Aeron and Lord Fenris were confident that the campaign was in its final stages, as they had freed almost ever slaver city they could find, but a recent scout report provided by the army's Sheikah agents revealed that there were still a few cities left where the slavers were massing their forces, preparing to dig in and resist Hyrule's forces as long as possible.

"At least they'll never have control of the region again," Link said at one point during the second course. "There's no way they are ever going to recover from this, with the Balacruf taking over governance of the captured cities."

"I agree," Aeron said, pausing to take another bite. He nodded as he chewed, and once he swallowed, he continued. "My father and his generals are fortifying each city we conquer, and the people are happy to have them." He gestured with his fork. "They've lived so long under the slavers that they'd probably welcome almost anyone at this point, as long as they didn't make things worse."

"How large is the slavers' territory?" Lynaka asked. Something told her that she would be here for a while, at least while the _Phoenix_ was being repaired, and she thought it would be a good idea to learn as much about the area as she could.

"Large enough that it's taken us ten years to get this far," Aeron's first officer Larynce said, looking over at her. "There may still be cities hidden off in the jungle that we don't know about. We've captured almost all of the major trade hubs in the region, but they're still moving slaves around somehow." The _Raptor_'s first officer shook his head disgustedly. "It amazes me that they're still trying to turn a profit even after all that's happened. You'd think they would have given up by now."

"Greed is hard to extinguish," Erike said, looking up from her meal at the man. "The world will never be rid of wicked men."

"You are right there, Erike," Link agreed, taking a drink from his goblet. "Evil seems an inextricable part of the hearts of men."

"So Aeron," Daskin said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. "What's with the gray hair?" he said lightly, apparently attempting to divert the dark tone the discussion had taken. He glanced up at the _Auric Raptor_'s captain, smirking slightly. "You seem a little young for it."

Lynaka smirked at her friend's characteristic irreverence; only he would say something like that to a military commander. She noticed Impa arch a disapproving eyebrow, but Zelda smiled, attempting to hide it beneath her napkin.

From the way Aeron smirked as he glanced at the princess, Lynaka knew that he had seen her, and that this was not the first time he'd been teased about his gray-streaked hair.

He chuckled, looking down the table at Daskin. "It is a bit unfair, isn't it?" he said amiably, showing no trace of offense at Daskin's comment. "It's a family trait; my father's hair was completely white before he was thirty-five, and a few of the generals say that it was more gray than blond before he was even twenty." He winked at Zelda. "Even Horys is getting a few gray streaks, and he's only twenty-one."

"So how old are you?" Daskin said around a mouthful of food. Link gave his son a mildly disapproving look, but Daskin just grinned back impudently.

"I'm twenty-five," Aeron replied, reaching for his goblet.

Daskin frowned thoughtfully. "That's awfully young to have your own ship already, even if you are the king's son."

Larynce scowled darkly at Daskin, irritably enough that Lynaka thought there was a good possibility he might reach across the table and hit him. She debated amusedly whether or not to try to stop him. A punch in the nose might be just what Daskin needed, she thought with a smirk hidden behind her napkin.

"The captain _earned_ his rank," Larynce said angrily. "Being Lord Viserys' son had nothing to do with it."

"Sorry," said Daskin, not really sounding like he meant it. "Didn't mean to get your feathers ruffled."

He grinned up the table at Lynaka as he said this, and she rolled her eyes at his joke.

Surprising her, Aeron laughed heartily at this. "Feathers," he said between chuckles. "That's good."

Lynaka raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Aeron. Clearly, this was one area where he and his father differed; her father had said that Viserys seemed serious, even humorless to him, though at the time the Mercenary King had been under a considerable amount of stress from organizing the war against the Oocca.

Thinking of that conflict reminded Lynaka of the trouble brewing now, her own quest, whatever form it might eventually take, and she looked up the table at Aeron. "Are there any volcanoes in this area?" she asked, remembering the Hero of Lightning's description of a southern Mountain of Fire.

"Volcanoes?" he said curiously. "Not that I know of. There are mountains in the area, but none of them are volcanic, as far as I know. You'd have to ask a local for more information about that. I haven't had time for listening to the local folklore, myself." Aeron frowned thoughtfully. "Horys is interested in that kind of thing, but he is a long ways from here by now, and I can't call him back here at the moment."

That brought up another good point. "Why aren't Communication Stones working, do you think?" Lynaka asked of the group.

"Magic," Impa said tersely. When Lynaka gave her a questioning look, she elaborated. "I believe a sorcerer working for the slavers is trying to disrupt our communications so that the army cannot organize its attacks as effectively."

"You never realize how much you depend on those little things till they don't work," Daskin said, leaning back in his chair. "Right handy, those little rocks, wouldn't you say?"

"Indeed," Aeron replied. "The fact that they can apparently be interfered with concerns me, as our fleet depends on them for coordination."

Link met Lynaka's eyes across the table, setting his fork aside. "Perhaps this is something you should look into, Hero," he said, a bit of a tinge to his voice that silently added, _It's what I would have done_.

Lynaka nodded, valuing anything her predecessor had to say about being the Hero. From what she knew of Hyrulian history, few Heroes ever had such an advantage, and at this stage of her quest, she was eager for any help she could get.

The rest of the meal passed with fairly light conversation, and when they were finished, Aeron offered them cabins aboard his vessel for the night, and they accepted. Lynaka in particular was glad she did not have to spend the night out in the jungle among the crawling insects and other creatures; she'd been dreading that all day.

As the group began getting up to leave, Lynaka noticed Daskin sigh to himself and adopt a determined expression.

"Dad," he said to Link, "can we talk?"

Link nodded as he set down his napkin and got up. Daskin still seemed a bit nervous, so Lynaka smiled reassuringly to him as she went past. He smiled back, and as Lynaka, her sister, Zelda, and Impa went off to the cabins, Daskin and his father turned the opposite direction.

_Good luck_, Lynaka mouthed to him as the group separated.

Daskin smirked, mouthing back, _I'll need it._

Lynaka watched him go for a moment, then followed the others off to the dormitories. Today had been long and eventful, and what she wanted most right now was to sleep for as long as she could before the next day could throw its challenges at her.

---

* * *

Author's Note: Apologies for the delay; I've been busy the last few weeks, not only with writing, but with getting ready for my fall classes as well. I am several chapters ahead of this in what I have written out, so hopefully it won't be so long until the next update. Thanks to Seldavia and Desteni for their help with this chapter, and also thanks to all the readers, as well. Till next time!


	7. Unexpected Visitors

Seven

On the upper deck of the warship _Auric Raptor_, Daskin and his father stood at the railing near the bow of the huge airship, looking out at the camp. Hundreds of tents, illuminated by torches and bonfires, covered almost all of the clear space next to the river, stretching back out of sight into the thick, murky jungle. The stars overhead shone brightly, almost enough that one could see without any torches tonight.

Daskin idly drummed his fingers against the hilt of his sword, glancing over at his father. Link looked much the same as he had when they'd parted, nearly eight years ago, but somehow, he looked a little more tired, more careworn, as the constant hiking and fighting through the jungle took its toll.

Despite that, Daskin knew very well his father was the equal or better of any man in a fight, even though he no longer bore the Triforce of Courage. Daskin smirked, remembering his mother's joke that Link was so tough that he'd send death itself packing when it came for him.

Daskin frowned, thinking back on the moment when the Triforce piece had manifested within his friends, but his father's voice penetrated his thoughts.

"You're wondering why it didn't go to you, aren't you?" Link asked, his expression knowing.

Daskin smirked; his father had hit on his exact thoughts. "Mom been teaching you mind-reading tricks, there, Pop?" he asked teasingly.

Link smiled, an amused glint in his eyes. "As far as I know, that isn't something your mother can do, though I do suspect sometimes."

Daskin laughed, but after a moment sobered. "I am, actually," he said, answering his father's question.

"There have been a number of Heroes in our family," Link said, serious again as he looked out at the encampment. He placed both hands on the railing in front of him. "But," he said, glancing over at his son, "the Triforce of Courage is not tied to our bloodline the way Wisdom is to the Royal Family's. Courage goes to whoever is most worthy, or whomever Farore chooses, if she is so inclined."

Daskin nodded silently, trying not to let his thoughts show on his face.

"As it so happens," Link continued, "several of my ancestors and yours had that special quality needed of Heroes, and so they were chosen when needed." A serious, mildly reproving note entered his voice, and he met Daskin's eyes, the same qualities in his expression, "But, this is coincidence. Just because you're my son does not mean that you should have automatically gotten Courage when the Triforce split, that you had a right to it and were entitled to become the Hero because of your blood."

His conversation with Lynaka earlier drifted back through Daskin's mind, and he smiled slightly, feeling slightly foolish for not coming to the conclusion himself.

"Your friend Lynaka has that quality," Link said, gesturing down at the warship beneath their feet. "She has Courage for a very good reason, whatever that may be. I suspect her mission for her mother may be tied up in all that's happening somehow, though I do not know quite how just yet."

Daskin was about to speak, but his father continued. He looked over at his son, making sure to keep eye contact through his next statement. "But don't let that think you don't have anything to contribute to her quest, Daskin," he said. He pulled off his glove and pushed up his sleeve, revealing the glowing blue-green Twili tattoo on his left forearm, reminiscent of Daskin's mother's markings. "Your mother didn't need a piece of the Triforce to be a hero, and that's just what she is."

Link shifted position, leaning against the railing facing his son. "On our first journey together, my quest to free Hyrule from Zant and Ganondorf, your mother was rude, sarcastic and controlling in the early stages, interested only in her own cause, freeing the Twilight Realm from the same men. I hated her at first."

Daskin was surprised at this; he'd never heard either of his parents talk about their first quest this way.

"She told me only what she thought I needed to know to further her agenda," Link continued. "She was only willing to help me so far as it would also help her for the first few weeks, until we cleared the Lakebed Temple and retrieved the last Fused Shadow."

"I've heard this part," Daskin said. "Zant did something to Mother right after that that really hurt her, and you had to go to Zelda for help."

Link nodded. "From that point on, your mother saw things differently. Her time in this world had given her a greater understanding, a greater perspective on things. She only got more powerful from there, and once she had all the Fused Shadows back again, she was more powerful than almost any wizard or sorcerer in both worlds. During the Oocca War, she was an invaluable help, so much that I doubt we would have won without her." He gave his son a meaningful look.

Daskin smiled understandingly. "I see what you're getting at."

Link smiled himself. "Good." He adjusted the sword at his side as he straightened, which Daskin noted was the same sword he'd had all of Daskin's life; one made in Link's home village of Ordon by his friend Rusl decades ago.

The former Hero raised his hand, the one with the Twili markings. "Do you want to go see your mother? I can take us right to the Mirror of Twilight."

"Yes, I do," Daskin said, but then he paused, a thought crossing his mind. "But how are we going to get back? There isn't a portal near here, is there?"

"Your mother made me a stone that functions as an anchor point the same way the portals do," Link replied. "I keep it with my tent, so I can go back and visit her whenever I can, but go right back to the army without any delay."

Daskin nodded, remembering the portal stone now. He'd forgotten all about it. "All right, let's go," he said, looking forward to seeing his mother again.

"You may want to disable whatever disguise you're using before we use the Mirror," Link said, gesturing at him. "It would probably make things go a little smoother."

"Oh, right," said Daskin, looking down at himself. He'd gotten so used to the enchantment that made him appear to be a full-blooded human that he didn't even notice it anymore. "I'll do that after we go to the Arbiter's Grounds."

"Let's go, then," Link said. The markings on his arm glowed brighter for a moment, and then the world around them disappeared as father and son dissolved into black squares.

---

* * *

---

Lynaka woke suddenly, but she remained motionless, feigning sleep as she tried to determine what it was that had awoken her. Her mother had trained her to awaken quickly, for one never knew when enemies were about. Thus, it took Lynaka only moments to go from sound sleep to full alertness.

She heard a quiet footstep, and knew at once that a previous step was what had roused her. Making as if she had shifted in her sleep, she slid a hand beneath her pillow and took hold of the knife there.

The footsteps stopped next to her bed, and Lynaka tensed her muscles, preparing to spring up at the person.

"Wake up, Hero!" an unfamiliar woman's voice said urgently. "Your camp is under attack!"

Lynaka sat up in one lightning-quick movement, her knife at the ready. Her eyes focused on the figure next to her bed instantly, taking in as much detail as she could as quickly as possible in the dim light filtering in from the camp outside.

The woman standing next to her bunk in the cabin aboard the _Auric Raptor_ appeared to be in her mid-twenties, with short auburn hair and the red eyes of a Sheikah. Her clothes were dark-colored and functional, and a short sword hung from her belt, along with an array of knives and a few pouches. Her hands were not on her weapons, and her posture was not one of threat, so Lynaka relaxed, but only slightly.

"Who are you?" Lynaka said tightly, swinging her legs out of her bunk as she reached for her boots with her other hand. The deck was cold beneath her feet, helping to bring her further into alertness.

"My name is Val," the woman said. "We do not have time for explanations, Hero. You must go to the defense of your allies immediately."

Lynaka finished putting on her boots and tucked the cuffs of her pants inside, securing the buckles next. As she stood, she grabbed her sword belt and buckled it on as she followed the woman from her cabin. She saw her sister open the door of her own cabin, barefoot and still a little bleary from being awoken by the noise.

"What is happening?" Erike asked, looking at Lynaka. The silent question in her expression as to the identity of Lynaka's companion was plain, tinged with just a hint of suspicion.

"A surprise attack," Lynaka said, nodding toward Val as she finished buckling her sword belt and lifted her scimitar a few inches to make sure it was clear in the scabbard. "She warned me about it."

All trace of tiredness immediately vanished from Erike's face, replaced in an instant with alertness as she ducked back inside her room to retrieve her own boots and scimitar.

"Who is attacking?" Lynaka asked Val as she and the stranger broke into a jog, heading for an outside hatch. She heard multiple alarm bells ringing and shouting now, the camp sentries having noticed the attackers, followed by the sound of steel clashing and screams.

Her question was answered by the scene outside as they emerged from the warship. Lynaka drew her scimitar, feeling a surge of adrenaline flow through her as her combat reflexes leaped to the fore.

An enormous horde of men in black and purple uniforms, brandishing a variety of gleaming weapons, was swarming over the camp like a plague of locusts, screaming fiercely as they savagely cut down anything moving that they could find. Men and women, roused from sleep by the commotion, struggled to hold them off, but the enemy force was too large and the attack too sudden for even the disciplined soldiers of Lord Fenris' force to get into proper formation quickly enough.

Lynaka absorbed all this in only a moment, immediately sprinting into the thick of the fighting with her scimitar held high. Questions could wait; the invaders' charge needed to be broken, _now_.

One of the enemy soldiers, his face painted with fierce black and red streaks, cut down a Balacruf soldier and then spun, screaming like a lunatic as he spotted Lynaka. She steeled herself as he began running for her, and as he drew close, she ducked under his initial swing with his huge, heavy battle-axe.

Lynaka whirled, cutting the soldier's legs out from under him as he tried to turn around, and as he fell, she reversed her grip on her scimitar and plunged it through his chest, piercing his heart.

Surprising her, the enemy soldier burst into a cloud of choking black smoke upon his death. Lynaka paused for just a moment to process this; she knew powerful sorcerers could imbue their servants with a taint of Shadow magic, to control them, and the bodies burst into smoke from the force of the taint being released. Many of the enemies her parents fought during the war had done the same thing, under the control of the Dark Lord.

She had, however, never heard of this being done to a human, only monsters. What was going on here? Who were these people?

Her distraction lasted only an instant, and Lynaka moved on, filing the information away to think on later. A crowd of creature-soldiers, howling and screaming like demented banshees, hurled themselves at a Hyrule Soldier just now emerging from his tent. He valiantly held them off for a few moments, but one of the creature-soldiers circled around behind him, wickedly curved sword raised over its head. Before the brute could strike, Lynaka climbed on top of a wagon next to the tent and leaped off in a long slashing jump attack, destroying the enemy soldier with one powerful blow.

Lynaka then spun to kick another creature-soldier behind the knee, decapitating it as it fell, and waved away the smoke as she moved on to the next. The Hylian soldier stabbed another through the chest, then blocked another attack with his shield before finishing off the last creature-soldier.

He nodded in thanks to Lynaka before moving on, charging at another enemy who was attacking one of his fellow Hylians.

Lynaka saw a human man in only a pair of pants, a sword in one hand and a Hylian shield in the other, leap from his tent as a group of the creature-soldiers set it aflame, then charge them, skillfully dodging and blocking before striking back.

At a shout of challenge behind her, Lynaka turned to see her sister Erike vault from a fallen tree-trunk and somersault over a creature-soldier's head before impaling it on her landing. The enemy howled as it exploded into smoke, attracting the attention of another band of the brutes.

Lynaka sprinted over to help, but even as she arrived, the stranger Val whirled through an acrobatic series of slashes, moving almost too fast to follow. She jumped up, planting her foot in the center of one creature-soldier's chest, and pushed off, back-flipping over the head of another before sweeping her sword out in a long slash that cut both of them down.

As Lynaka reached her sister and Val, the young warrior stabbed another creature-soldier from behind, pausing only to jerk her weapon free of the toppling body before she leaped in a whirling slash at another who was trying to sneak up on her sister.

Erike nodded in thanks, dropping in a sweep kick to trip another enemy soldier as it charged past, and Val finished the creature off with a stab, moving away as another cloud of smoke joined the already choking haze.

At a pause in the combat, Lynaka moved closer to Val, intending to ask her what she knew. Around them, the air was filled with smoke from both defeated enemy soldiers and tents they had set aflame, the stench powerful enough to make her eyes water. The only illumination, it seemed, came from flames, which danced in imitation of the stars above, countless pinpricks of light emanating from torches held by enemies and allies alike. Flaming tents cast greater light, revealing the innumerable skirmishes raging about the camp as the army tried desperately to hold off the invaders.

Lynaka turned as she heard the thundering boom of cannon-fire, and saw the muzzle flashes as gunners aboard the _Auric Raptor_ opened fire on the crowd of creature-soldiers still swarming in at the edges of the camp. Huge sections of the enemy army puffed into more of the orange-specked smoke, some flying high into the air before vanishing.

Val had to shout to make herself heard. "A sorcerer is controlling this horde!" she yelled in Lynaka's ear. "We have to find him and kill him to stop them!"

Lynaka nodded sharply, gesturing for her sister to join them. "Do you know where he could be?" she shouted back, competing with the howls of the creature-soldiers and the screams of the humans and Hylians to be heard.

"Probably somewhere he can see most of the battle," Val replied, wincing as a wagon a few yards away exploded under a missed shot by a Balacruf gunner. "Look in the trees!"

"In the trees?" Lynaka said to herself, incredulous. There were trees _everywhere!_

Just as she was wondering how to locate the sorcerer controlling the horde, he foolishly did it for her; Lynaka saw a blast of magic charging high up in a tree a few dozen yards away, and as she focused on its source, the beam screamed down and incinerated part of Lord Fenris' tent.

Fortunately, Lynaka knew, Lord Fenris wasn't in it, and neither was Daskin; they were off talking somewhere. Now that Lynaka thought about it, she hadn't seen either of them since dinner last night. The battle should have attracted their attention; where were they?

She pushed the thought from her mind as she hunted for an item she knew she would need; she didn't have time to go back for her own, so a scavenged one would have to do.

Inside a supply wagon, Lynaka found what she sought: a bow and a quiver full of arrows. She observed immediately upon stringing the bow and testing it that it wasn't nearly as powerful as her own bow, one her father had made for her, but again, it would have to do.

Lynaka tossed another bow and quiver to Erike, then quickly explained her plan as best she could over the deafening racket of the battle. Erike nodded, understanding immediately, and gripped her sister's forearm in a warrior's salute.

"It's dangerous," Lynaka said.

"There would be no honor in it otherwise," Erike replied, grinning with a ferocity reminiscent of their mother.

Lynaka grinned back, nodding once before they separated. Val was busily engaged with a group of enemies, so Lynaka didn't have time to explain her plan to the mysterious warrior. She just had to hope the Sheikah woman would pick up on it and follow along.

---

* * *

---

Immediately upon regaining his form in the Mirror Chamber of the Arbiter's Grounds, Daskin summoned what little magic he had and dispelled the enchantment making him appear to be a human. The only real difference, he knew, was that his skin was now a bluish shade of gray like his mother's, and his hair was more orange, also like hers.

However, his eyes remained blue, his one feature that marked him as different than other Twili. Blue eyes were just as unusual in the Twilight Realm as orange or yellow eyes were in the Light World; were he not a prince, he knew, the other children would have teased him mercilessly, as the other Gerudo had Lynaka's sister Erike. Most races apparently did not take kindly to those who looked markedly different than what was considered 'normal', which, he thought to himself, was rather stupid, but that was just how mortals were.

Seeing a suspicious expression on his father's face brought Daskin out of his thoughts, and his hand dropped to his sword out of unconscious habit.

"What is it?" he asked Link.

"There's no one here," Link said quietly, his hand on the hilt of his own sword.

He was right, Daskin saw; every time he'd been here previously, there had been five or six guards in the chamber itself, plus dozens more throughout the ancient building. The Gerudo and the Hylians both had people patrolling the Arbiter's Grounds, mainly to guard the Mirror of Twilight, one of two known exits from the Twilight Realm. The other was in the dungeon of Hyrule Castle, under guard there, as well.

Link took a deep breath, sniffing several times. "Do you smell that?" he asked his son.

"Okay, you got me," Daskin said, smirking. "I haven't had a bath in a few days." He playfully gestured back at his father. "You ought to know all about that, since you've done a bit of adventuring yourself."

Link gave his son a wry look, chuckling shortly, but his smile faded as he pointed at a still dark shape, barely visible in the dim moonlight, slumped next the dormant Mirror. "There's one of the guards," he said quietly.

Daskin moved forward, drawing his sword as he did so, and looked around for the other guards. They were there, all right, but they were all dead.

"That's what that smell is," Link said tightly. "It's the smell of a Shadow taint after it's been released. They fought back, it looks like, only the enemy didn't leave any bodies behind."

Daskin frowned as he nodded; mages specializing in the dark arts often left a Shadow taint in their servants to better control them, and it usually destroyed the body once whatever monster it was controlling died or was killed, leaving only black smoke behind.

"Only one reason a dark mage would assault the Mirror Chamber," Daskin said, pointing up at the silent disk of the Mirror of Twilight.

Link nodded once, shifting his grip on his sword. "Let's go."

The two of them charged up the stone steps of the Mirror's platform, and since Link was faster, he stepped on the area in front of the Mirror that activated it. A glowing white platform appeared before the dark round disk as it tilted back and suddenly shone, projecting a cone of white light filled with glyphs and other symbols onto the massive black plinth at the other end of the coliseum-like chamber.

Daskin and Link ran up the steps of the glowing platform and let themselves be sucked into the whirling, glowing vortex forming in the center of the black plinth.

A moment later, they regained form in the Twilight Realm, and Daskin paused for a moment to take a deep breath of the pleasantly scented air of the world in which he had been born.

However, the Twilight Realm was anything but serene in that moment; as soon as Daskin could hear again, the sounds of battle assaulted him, shouts, screams, and the clash of metal echoing off the square-angled stone buildings of his family's palace, punctuated with the whine of magic blasts.

The golden sky, covered with an ever-present layer of dark purple clouds, was filled with Twili, hurling balls and beams of magic from their hands at a multitude of invaders, who wore black-and-purple uniforms, their faces painted with streaks of red and black. The muted colors produced by the Twilight Realm's atmosphere gave an odd cast to the flame from their torches, producing a surreal effect when combined with the chaos of the battle.

Reflexes ingrained into him by both parents brought Daskin up to a high state of alertness, and he immediately charged for the nearest invader, sword at the ready. The hulking brute turned, mouth splitting in a horrific grin as he raised his club, but Daskin was too fast, and ran the creature-soldier through before he had time to react further. The brute grunted, toppling to the ground before exploding into orange-flecked black smoke.

Nearby, Link was demonstrating why he was a swordsman renowned throughout both worlds; he moved with the speed, power and skill granted to him by both his innate talent with the blade and decades of experience as he cut down all the enemies that came within reach of his sword.

Link grunted as he slammed his shield into the side of one of the creature-soldiers, and when it stumbled, he launched himself into a full flip over its head, greeting its head with his blade on the way. He finished it off with a final thrust once he landed, spinning almost in the same movement to cut the legs out from underneath another of the monstrous warriors. Without pausing, he whirled his blade once and stabbed down into the enemy's chest, finishing it off.

Daskin half-smiled despite the situation at seeing his father in action again; these creatures had no idea how much trouble they were in now.

"Find your mother!" Link shouted over his shoulder as he charged another group of the creatures, smashing some of them off of the narrow stone walkway with his shield before bringing his sword to bear on the rest.

Daskin nodded once, sprinting off through the battle on paths he knew so well he could navigate them with his eyes closed, slashing at more of the ugly soldiers on the way. As it turned out, he didn't have to look for long; his mother found them instead.

Long dark robes flapping behind her at the speed of her flight, Midna soared in at the group of creature-soldiers attacking her husband and unleashed a blast of deadly blue-green energy from her hands, vaporizing the majority of them instantly.

"About time you showed up!" Midna said to Link as she touched down next to him. She leaned to one side and knocked another creature-soldier off the walkway with a blast of magic before he could respond.

"Yeah, I figured you needed me to come save you again," Link replied with a grin. He glanced over his wife's shoulder as Daskin ran back down the ramp toward them, and she turned to see what he was looking at.

A creature-soldier jumped in his way suddenly, and Daskin used his momentum to fuel a leap as he planted a hand on the surprised enemy's shoulder. Once his feet hit stone again, he whirled and stabbed the creature-soldier quickly before slashing again, tripping the enemy warrior over the side of the walkway.

He turned back to see his mother approaching, an expression halfway between relief and reproval on her face, and before Daskin had a chance to say anything, Midna caught him up in a tight hug.

As she pulled back and looked him in the eye, Daskin was momentarily startled to realize that he was taller than her, if only by an inch or so. His mother had towered over him his entire life, so it was quite a surprise after not having seen her in years. She looked much the same as the last time he had seen her; Twili did not age in the same way those from the Light World did, so even though she was a few years older than his father, she looked more than a decade younger by human standards.

"It's about time you showed up, too," Midna said quietly, smiling tightly as she clasped her son's shoulder. He grinned back, somewhat embarrassedly, not quite able to think of a reply.

"But," she said, gesturing off at the rest of the horde, "we can talk later, once we get all these brutes out of our house, okay?"

"You got it," Daskin said, grinning again.

Fittingly, he thought, the first thing the three of them did when they were all in the same place was fight, though this time not with each other. As a family, Link, Midna and Daskin aided the other Twili in finishing off the rest of the creature-soldiers, charging through the halls of the Palace of Twilight with weapons and magic at the ready.

---

* * *

---

After finding appropriate cover, Erike nocked an arrow and fired a shot at the source of the magic blast they had seen earlier. Lynaka knew it was too dark to see the sorcerer from her position, but Erike's role in the plan was not to kill the enemy mage.

That was Lynaka's job.

As she had expected, Lynaka noted a stream of thin, light blue energy soar back at Erike, missing completely as the younger girl dodged it. While her sister ran to her next position, Lynaka sprinted through the foliage, pushing aside ferns and dodging roots and branches. She was making a lot of noise, she knew, but the battle was making even more, so she hoped her approach would not be noticed.

Erike fired another arrow on the run, leaping behind a tree-trunk a moment later, and Lynaka looked along the retaliating beam to confirm the position of the enemy mage. She nocked an arrow of her own, holding it in position but not stretched back as she moved closer.

When Lynaka neared the tree she thought the sorcerer was in, Erike shot again, and Lynaka grinned as she heard a pained grunt above her; despite the darkness, her sister had somehow managed to hit the enemy mage. She filed that away to congratulate her sister on once the battle was over.

By the light of his own magic blast, Lynaka took aim at the sorcerer. He was tall and thin, dressed in heavily brocaded robes of black and purple, and his hair was long and light-colored; she couldn't tell the exact color in the dim light.

Now that she was close enough to make him out in the branches overhead, Lynaka drew a careful bead on the mage, who was still unaware she was below him. Pausing for just a moment to ensure the accuracy of her shot -she was unlikely to get a second- she let her arrow fly.

Lynaka smiled in fierce satisfaction as she heard a shocked grunt and then a series of crashes as the sorcerer toppled from his perch. Quickly, she slung the bow across her back and drew her scimitar, following the crashes until, with a dull thump and a further grunt of pain, the enemy mage landed at her feet.

She noted as she raised her blade that the man's face was young, but somehow drawn and withered, unnatural and ugly. His eyes had no pupils, but were a solid, faintly glowing purple. Lynaka filed this detail away also, then spun her blade twice and plunged it downwards.

Once the purple glow had faded from the mage's eyes, Lynaka withdrew her scimitar and wiped it off on his robes. He did not fade away, she noted, and decided to come back for his corpse once his minions had been mopped up. Perhaps he had something on him that could provide a clue as to who this army belonged to and why it was here, other than to attack the Hyrule Army and the Balacruf.

Lynaka jogged back into the clearing, looking around, and noted with satisfaction that the creature-soldiers were stumbling around confusedly, stupidly blundering into one another without their master's guidance.

The allied army drew courage from this, and the survivors attacked the monsters with renewed ferocity, shouting challenges. The black-and-purple-uniformed men, their faces painted in savage patterns of black and red, quickly began a retreat, fleeing chaotically back into the jungle. Hyrulian and Balacruf commanders rallied their troops and formed up, driving the rest of the creature-soldiers off into the jungle and the river, and cut down any that were too slow.

Lynaka brought up her bow and nocked an arrow, drawing a bead on a particular soldier whose uniform was slightly more decorative than the others, his face-paint applied with a little more precision. She let the arrow fly, and as she had intended, it slammed into his calf muscle, sending him sprawling to the ground.

She drew her scimitar as she ran over to the groaning man, and before he could flee or do something to himself, she hit him solidly over the back of the head with the pommel. He collapsed in an ugly, stinking heap at her feet, his body odor almost powerful enough to make her eyes water on its own, without the smoke's help.

Lynaka kicked him in the side, disgusted. As if she needed another reason to loathe these people…

The young warrior waited next to her prisoner as the rest of the creature-soldiers fled, shooting any that came within range or appeared about to attack her or someone else. Several times, she had to dispatch a group of the creature-soldiers that fled past her but stopped to attack, moving more clumsily than when their master had been directing them.

At the sound of multiple running footsteps behind her, Lynaka turned to see Aeron approaching along with Zelda, Impa, Erike and Val. Aeron's gray-streaked dark brown hair was soaked with sweat, and his open uniform jacket was ripped and cut in several places. One of the sleeves was slashed nearly off, and the fabric and the skin beneath was wet with blood. His sword was in his hand, stained with something black and sticky, like wet ash. He wore no shirt beneath his jacket, Lynaka noticed, and was in very good shape, the contours of his muscles gleaming with sweat and blood.

Somewhat embarrassed, she turned her attention to the rest of the group, noting that Zelda and Impa both had their weapons out and had been fighting, also, their clothes and blades spattered with grime and muck.

"Lynaka, there you are," Aeron said as he came to a stop next to her. "Erike told us you were over this way."

He was breathing heavily, Lynaka noticed by the light from Zelda's torch, and had a few other shallow wounds besides the deep one on his arm.

Lynaka was about to answer him when Zelda touched her shoulder and said, "You're bleeding," with intense concern in her tone.

"I am?" Lynaka said, surprised, as she looked over at her shoulder. With even greater surprise, she noticed that the wound was deep, and blood covered almost all of her shoulder, streaming in runnels down her arm. How in the world had she not felt this before?

As she calmed down, allowing Zelda to tend to her wound, Lynaka suddenly realized her muscles were sore, and she gritted her teeth at the fire in her shoulder from the gash there. She hadn't felt any of this during the battle, but now it was all catching up to her, including a muscle in her leg she had pulled sometime during the skirmish.

"It's the Triforce of Courage," Val said suddenly. "It dulls your sense of pain while you're fighting, so you can keep going." She peered at Lynaka curiously. "Do you feel any stronger?"

With surprise, Lynaka noted that she did. Despite her tiredness, she did feel an odd sense of vibrancy that seemed at odds with her aches. She had attributed it to just leftover adrenaline from the battle, but now that she thought about it, this did feel much different than an ordinary rush.

"Your Triforce gathers the energy of those you defeat and draws it into you," Val said, a knowing look on her face. "The more you fight, the stronger you will become."

Lynaka's question was interrupted by a hiss of indrawn breath at the sting when Zelda cleaned her wound with a bit of alcohol.

"Sorry," said the princess, giving Lynaka an apologetic look. She withdrew a strip of white cloth from the bag at her side and began to wrap the wound, pausing once to push a bit of her dark red hair behind an ear.

"Who are you?" Aeron said to Val, giving voice to the question Lynaka had been about to ask herself. He glanced down as Impa expertly cleaned his own gash, nodding his thanks before looking back up to hear the answer.

"I am Valakyriena, Emissary of the Golden Goddesses," the woman replied formally. Then she smiled. "But please, call me Val."

Lynaka noticed Impa's eyes narrow slightly at this, though the Sheikah warrior said nothing, continuing to bind Aeron's wound.

The name did sound vaguely familiar to Lynaka, and she knew she had heard it before somewhere, likely one of her father's stories about the war.

"I know you," Zelda said as she tied off Lynaka's bandage. "You helped my mother and Lord Fenris near the end of the Oocca War. We haven't met before, though, I believe."

"No, Your Highness, we have not," Val replied. "But you are correct."

Lynaka was puzzled at this; by all appearances, Val was in her early twenties, but for what Zelda had said to be true, she would have to be in at least her forties by now, about the same age as Lord Fenris.

Val glanced over at Lynaka, apparently seeing the young warrior's question in her expression, for she explained, "Members of my order age very slowly, as part of their gifts from the Goddesses."

"How many members are in this order?" Aeron asked, sheathing his sword so he could hold his wound with his good hand.

"Majacen is the only other Emissary I know of that is active at this time," Val replied. "There are very few direct servants of the Goddesses in the mortal realms aside from the Triforce Bearers." She showed them the prominent Triforce symbol on the pommel of her short sword. "My role is as an advisor and ally to the Triforce Bearers, particularly the Bearer of Courage, while the Wizard takes a wider role in mortal affairs."

"So you're not a mortal, then?" Lynaka asked, trying to ignore the stench from the prisoner at her feet.

"Not like you, no," Val replied. She gestured to the battleground around them, strewn with the bodies of fallen humans and Hylians and the wreckage left behind by the horde. "I do not think this is the best place for this discussion," she said. "Perhaps once you all are rested and recovered from your wounds?"

"I agree," said Zelda. "We have much to talk about, but only when you are rested." She turned to Lynaka and Aeron, addressing them with the tone of royal command she reserved for when she was particularly serious. "Especially you two," she said, her tone and her expression making it expressly clear she would accept no objections. "Both of you are to go to your bunks and sleep for as long as you can, and then you're not to get up until you have those wounds looked at by a doctor, is that understood?"

Aeron grinned amiably, bowing in a way that was teasingly mocking. "As you command, Your Highness," he said. "I wouldn't dream of disobeying you."

"See that you don't," Zelda said, smiling despite herself.

Lynaka chuckled. If Zelda was like this with Aeron, she wondered what the princess was like with his brother, her fiancé.

As a passing breeze stirred her prisoner's stench again and reminded her of his presence, Lynaka grimaced as she looked down at the creature-soldier she had knocked out. "You might want to take this… thing to one of your holding cells," she said to Aeron. "Use men you don't mind inflicting his stink on." She smirked.

Aeron grimaced himself, glancing down at the unconscious creature-soldier. "Oh, is that what that is?" he said. "I thought there was a dead animal nearby."

"No, but there is a corpse you should look at," Lynaka said, gesturing off where she'd left the dead mage. "I killed the sorcerer who was controlling this army and left him under that tree over there."

"Are you all right?" Zelda asked, an odd inflection in her voice.

"I'm fine," Lynaka replied, understanding what she meant. "He's not the first man I've killed."

She scowled briefly before banishing the memory of that occurrence, not wanting to think of that just now. She noticed her sister similarly scowling at her own dark memory of that event before also forcibly banishing it.

Lynaka wasn't fine, but she wasn't about to admit that to any of the others. Despite the fact that she had killed before, she took no pleasure in it; sometimes it needed to be done, and that was it. She would sort through her feelings on her own, in private.

Still, she understood Zelda's concern; slaying monsters was one thing, but killing humans was something entirely different. Privately, Lynaka hoped she never got used to it, felt the guilt every time, as terrible as it was. The day she felt nothing at killing other sentient beings would be the day she would throw away her scimitar, she resolved.

Pushing these painful thoughts aside for now, Lynaka led the others over to the dead sorcerer, glancing behind as Aeron gestured for two of his men to bring the prisoner back to his ship. She tried not to laugh at their expressions of distaste as they hoisted the unconscious creature-soldier up and carried him off, making sure to leave all of his weapons behind for later collection.

Once they arrived at the tree, Aeron gave the mage's corpse a critical inspection, refraining from touching it. He drew his sword and prodded a few of the pouches on the sorcerer's belt with the point, murmuring softly to himself. Lynaka watched him for a moment, wondering what his thoughts were on the enemy magic-wielder.

"Never seen anyone like him before," Aeron said finally. "Or his men; I haven't ever seen uniforms like that." He looked up at the others, his sharp violet eyes passing over each of them in turn. "Have you?"

All but Val silently shook their heads or voiced a quick negative. At the Emissary's grim look of recognition, Lynaka turned to her, about to ask what she knew.

But, Val volunteered it before Lynaka could speak. "The Divine Host," she said gravely. "An army openly devoted to the Dark God. It is as Majacen feared; they are active again."

Lynaka was torn between her desire for sleep and her curiosity, but Zelda decided for all of them.

"As much as I am interested in hearing your explanation, Val," she said, a bit tiredly, "it should wait until tomorrow morning, when we are all thinking clearly enough to understand it." She glanced at the others. "Is that all right with you?"

Lynaka nodded; Val's explanation sounded complicated, more than she wanted to process right now. She had exhausted her energy, and now wanted nothing more than to collapse on her bunk.

"Very well," said Aeron, sheathing his sword again. "I'll order a double watch for the rest of the night in case they decide to try again, though I don't think they will, without their commander." He gestured down at the corpse. "I'll have a few of my men bring this back to the _Raptor_, too, so we can look it over more closely in the morning." His jaw set with determination and more than a little anger. "I want to know who this fellow is and why he and his brutes decided to attack my camp and kill my men."

So did Lynaka, but right now, it was all she could do to keep on her feet. Gratefully, she followed the others back to the _Auric Raptor_, where she moved as quickly as she was able through the warship's halls until she found her cabin. Once inside, she paused only long enough to drop her weapons on the floor and pull off her boots before stretching out on her bunk and falling asleep.

---

* * *

---

About an hour into the battle in the Twilight Realm, Midna announced that she felt another magic-user nearby, one definitely not Twili, and the three of them ran in the directions she indicated, making a direct course for the throne room at the top of the palace.

Once they burst into the wide, high-ceilinged hall that led up to the throne room, they spotted the mage; it was a young-looking human woman in heavy black and purple robes with pale skin and long, curly black hair that crackled as though a current ran through it.

She glared at the three of them with glowing purple eyes that had no pupils, bringing her hands together to launch a thick stream of pale blue energy in their direction. Midna stopped and planted her feet wide, throwing a wide magic shield in front of her son and husband.

Daskin peered through the shield to see the enemy sorceress frown at this; clearly, she had been expecting no such resistance, but, Daskin thought smugly, she hadn't realized his mother was one of the most powerful magic-users in both worlds. Only someone wielding a piece of the Triforce had a chance of overcoming her.

"I'm going to give you one chance to explain yourself," Midna called up to the sorceress. "If you surrender, I may let you leave in one piece."

From her perch on one of the ledges jutting out from the high stone walls, the sorceress made her answer plain: she threw another beam of pale blue energy down at them.

"Want to do it the hard way, do you?" Midna said challengingly, grinning over at Link. "I'll handle this, Mr. Hero. You stay put."

Link arched an eyebrow and gestured with a broad wave, as if to say, _she's all yours_.

Daskin wiggled his fingers at the sorceress in a mocking good-bye wave as Midna took off and shot like an arrow at the enemy mage, her hands spread wide.

The sorceress fired blast after blast at the incoming Queen of Twilight, who dodged some with acrobatic twists and blocked others with briefly conjured shields. Finally, her long orange hair crackling with her own power, Midna hovered in place before the black-and-purple-robed sorceress and let a ball of blue-green energy charge in either hand.

"Last chance," she said, a slight echo in her voice from the power thrumming within her. Her eyes glowed with the power of the Fused Shadows, turning the same unique Twili shade of blue-green as the markings on her arms and legs, which also began to glow more intensely.

Daskin could see real fear on the sorceress' face now, and he grinned as he impudently called up to her, "You're in trouble now!"

"He's a bright boy," Midna said, her voice echoing more strongly now. "You should listen to him."

She brought one hand up and slowly, quite deliberately blasted a hole straight through the wall behind the sorceress, revealing the dark clouds, golden sky, and endless drop outside the palace walls.

Daskin watched his mother float closer to the sorceress, bringing up her other hand and its glowing, thrumming sphere of energy. She brought to mind the image of a vengeful goddess, crackling with power as she defended her home and people.

"You can either tell all your thugs to lay down their weapons and stop wrecking my home," Midna said, her voice low and dangerous, echoing thunderously with power, "or I knock you outside and let what's left of you fall for the rest of eternity."

She hovered closer, getting in the sorceress' face, with only the ball of magic between them. "What's it going to be?"

The sorceress, her eerie glowing purple eyes meeting Midna's resolutely, replied, in a surprisingly rich voice tinged with a cultured-sounding accent Daskin did not recognize, "You can kill me, but my master will bring me back a hundred times more powerful, Twili witch!"

"Tell him 'hi' for me, then," Midna said sardonically, and released the blast of magic.

Bolts of blue-green energy crackling over her body, the sorceress soared backwards through the hole in the wall, screaming as she fell. Midna gave her a mocking wave, her markings and her eyes slowly losing their powerful glow. By the time she turned around, she was back to normal.

"I'm guessing Mom wins most of your arguments, eh?" Daskin said teasingly to Link.

Link sighed humorously. "Most of them, yeah," he agreed with a smile.

"Oh, I let him have one now and then to preserve his fragile male ego," Midna said, smirking as she touched down next to them.

"My what?" Link exclaimed, feigning outrage.

"Nothing, dear," Midna said sweetly, kissing him on the cheek. She winked at Daskin as she put an arm around her husband's waist, and Link gave her a mock-suspicious look, fighting a grin.

Daskin laughed as he sheathed his sword, and a moment later his parents joined him, the first time in a long, long time.

_Much too long_, Daskin thought.

"All right," Midna said once the moment was over. "Let's go make sure the rest of these things are out of here, and then we need to talk."

Daskin sighed heavily. "Yes, we do," he agreed.

---

* * *

Author's Note: Well, that took much too long. Sorry for the delay, everybody, but there were a number of factors that contributed to it. Anyway, I'm back to writing now, currently two chapters ahead of this, so Chapter 8 will be up sometime next week. Thanks for reading!


	8. After Action Review

Eight

After they cleared the rest of the creature-soldiers out of the Palace of Twilight, Link, Midna, and Daskin met in the main room of the Royal Family's apartments, a wide, high-ceilinged room decorated with glowing blue-green Twili patterns on the walls and an array of comfortable furniture, which floated a few feet off the floor, more glyphs glowing brightly from the underside.

Daskin draped himself over his favorite chair, one both his parents had told him stories in when he was little, holding him in their laps as he gazed up at them in wonder at all the details they spun in, practically making the tales of their adventures come alive.

He had also done his share of 'storytelling' here, he thought to himself with a frown, spinning wild lies to his parents to try and avoid getting in trouble, particularly in the months leading up to the ugly fight after which he had fled to the Light World. They had of course seen though every one, being far smarter than he had given them credit for at the time.

_Odd how time changes your perceptions of your parents_, Daskin thought to himself as he waited for them to sit down. _When you're little, they're the smartest people in the world, and you want to be just like them. Then when you get a little older, they're the biggest idiots you've ever had the misfortune to deal with, and you can't wait to get away from them._

_And then_, he thought as he watched them enter the room and head for one of the couches near his chair, _when you finally grow up and get over yourself, they mysteriously get smarter again. How's that work?_ He smirked to himself.

Of course, a few of his friends, particularly Impa, would argue that he had hardly grown up and got over himself, Daskin thought, smiling again. He wondered what they were up to, and looked forward to seeing them again, even the gruff bodyguard. He was sure Lynaka wanted to talk to his father some more, get any advice she could on being the Hero from the previous holder of that title.

"I'm going to send word to Zelda about what happened here," Midna said as she sat down on the couch, smiling briefly at Link as he put his arm around her shoulders as he sat next to her. "Not for a little while; I want to rest up a bit first."

Daskin propped his head on his hand, leaning his elbow on the armrest of the chair. "When did the attack start?" he asked, realizing just then how tired he was.

"About twenty minutes before I saw you two," Midna replied. "The Mirror activated, and then that horde of brutes came pouring through the portal and started swinging. We had no warning at all. Fortunately," she grinned, "whoever was in charge apparently forgot Twili can fly; we didn't lose anybody, just some damage to the buildings."

"That's good," Daskin said, shifting in his chair slightly. "Now all we have to do is figure out who they are, where they came from, and why none of those creatures or that sorceress transformed in the Twilight."

Midna nodded in agreement; the three of them were the only mortals besides Queen Zelda and Arnak who could freely pass between the Twilight Realm and the Light World without any ill effects, though, Daskin supposed, the new Triforce Bearers would also have to be added to that list.

And a few Sheikah, he amended, remembering what his mother had told him of the warrior Erik she and Link had traveled with during the war. But that was a whole other story…

"I suppose we should to back to the Light Realm soon," Midna said. "Like I said, Zelda needs to be told about this, and I plan to do some investigating of my own." She patted Link's leg and looked up at Daskin. "Yes," she said in reply to his unasked question, "I'm going back with you. Whatever is going on in the Light World has already affected us, and I'm not going to let another mage come in here for something to wreak havoc with." She gestured to her son. "You can come with me, if you want. I need to teach you to use some more of our magic anyway."

She left unsaid how much his skills would have advanced had he remained here, but Daskin knew she was thinking it.

"Mom, I'm sorry-" he began, but Midna lifted a hand to interrupt him.

"Hey, the past is the past," she said. "I am disappointed with you for running off and for being gone for so long, but we're together now and that's what matters. No point in staying upset with each other, especially now that it looks like there's another war on."

Midna turned to her husband with a teasing grin. "I have had nothing but trouble ever since I met you," she said in mock-complaint.

"You?" Link said in mock-outrage. "You had it easy, hanging out in my shadow and bossing me around! _I_ was the one doing all the fighting!"

"Sure, Mr. Hero," Midna grinned. She stood, looking over at Daskin with a smile. "Come on, boy, let's get out of here before your father starts going off about his exploits again."

"Hey, I've had some good exploits," Link said as he stood up, half-smiling. "If I want to tell you about them, you'd darn well better listen."

Daskin laughed again, picking up his jacket from where he had tossed it and putting it on as he followed his parents out into the main palace. He missed this, missed his parents joking with each other, and the way his father would pretend to get offended at one of his mother's sarcastic comments before launching one of his own right back.

Midna paused for a few minutes to tell some of her advisors what she was doing, and as she did so, Link and Daskin walked back down to the portal leading back to the Light World.

"Mom handled me being back a lot better than I thought she would," Daskin remarked as they waited.

"Surviving a battle will do that," Link replied, smirking. His smile faded as he looked back off at the palace. "But she's never going to let on to you what it was like when we didn't know where you were." He met Daskin's eyes seriously, putting some flint into his gaze to let him know how much he meant what he was about to say. "As long as you don't run off again, and behave yourself, you'll find we'll get along pretty well. People like us," he said, reaching out to clasp his son's shoulder, "we can't afford to stay mad at each other, you understand?"

Daskin nodded, understanding only too well; all three of them were warriors, each with their own battles to fight, and with the kind of people his family tended to fight, each battle might be their last. A few of them nearly had been, he knew; both his mother and his father had nearly died at the hands of Dark Lords, saved only through the intervention of those beyond the mortal realm.

Daskin nodded again, solemnly. "Don't worry, Dad," he said. "I'm not going to do anything stupid."

"Ha!" said Midna, touching down from her flight next to them. "You're doomed, kid; look who your parents are." She winked at him, then gestured up at the portal. "I'm going to go to Castle Town and talk to Zelda, but you two can head back down to the army and tell Aeron and Viserys what's going on."

"All right," said Link, as the three of them walked toward the portal entry.

Daskin closed his eyes as his body dissolved into the portal, and after a brief moment of disorientation, opened his eyes to find himself back in the Light World, standing in the cool, dry air of the Arbiter's Grounds. The desert somehow lost most of its heat at night, becoming frigid cold. Overhead, the moon shone with a bright silver light, bathing the coliseum with an odd, almost colorless atmosphere.

Midna lightly leaped from the glowing white platform to the sand below, and Daskin, following her lead, vaulted from the platform as well. Link opted to walk down the stairs instead, and so joined them at the bottom of the Mirror's stone base a moment later.

Daskin's mother gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder as she looked over at his father. "I'll see you two in a few hours," she said, giving a friendly wave good-bye before she broke into black squares and disappeared, bound for the castle.

Link raised his own hand, also reaching out to pat his son's shoulder. "Let's go," he said, and then Daskin was bodiless for a moment again.

What he saw when he regained form caught Daskin completely off guard; the jungle camp was a mess, the air smelling strongly of smoke, with bodies scattered in a few places while more soldiers worked to collect them. A great many tents had burned down, and others were still on fire, slowly collapsing to the ground. Medics rushed everywhere, tending to those with burn wounds, stab wounds, and a multitude of other injuries.

Daskin had been tired, expecting to just find a place to lie down and sleep for the night upon their return, but the chaos of the camp jolted him wide awake again. It had only been a few hours since he had left; what in the world had happened here?

Link stopped a passing Balacruf soldier to ask just that. The man sighed angrily, gesturing at the wreck of the encampment with barely contained fury.

"We were attacked in the night by an enemy army, my lord," the man said, his jaw clenched at what he saw beyond them. "The Hero and her companions managed to find and destroy the enemy commander, so we chased the rabble back into the jungle a few hours ago. Since then we've just been trying to clean up the mess."

"What sort of soldiers?" Link asked the man, looking out at the devastation.

"Big ugly brutes with black and red faces," the soldier replied. "Their uniforms were black and purple, not like any I'd ever seen." He scrunched up his face as if puzzled. "And they all puffed into smoke when we killed them, too; I've never seen humans do that before."

Daskin's eyes widened at this, and he looked over at his father incredulously. Those were the exact same soldiers who had invaded the Twilight Realm. Who were these people?

Link's expression was just as surprised as he met his son's eyes, clearly thinking the same thing.

"Thank you," Link said to the soldier, clapping him on the shoulder, and the man nodded respectfully as he resumed jogging across the camp to whatever he had been doing.

"Let's head up to the _Raptor_ to see what Aeron has to say about all this," Link said, and Daskin nodded sharply, following his father through the camp.

Once they reached the _Auric Raptor_, they found it surrounded by a veritable army of mechanics, who dashed back and forth in a frenzy trying to repair damage the propellers and a few of the windows had suffered during the battle.

Daskin and his father found the warship's first officer Larynce directing the repairs, a bandage wrapped around his head with a bloody patch over one eye; traces of a longer wound could be seen on either side of the patch, and Daskin winced in sympathy upon getting a closer look.

"Larynce!" Link said as they approached. "You should be in the infirmary with that wound."

Larynce shook his head dismissively, passing a hand over his dark goatee as he looked back over at the _Raptor_ with his good eye. "I'm fine, sir," he insisted, though he was obviously in pain. "Repairs need to be finished as soon as possible." He gestured back at the warship, looking back at them. "Lord Aeron was wounded in the battle, so Princess Zelda insisted he and the Hero rest for tonight."

"Was Lynaka hurt?" Daskin said, more concern in his voice than he would have liked others to hear. Link gave his son a knowing look, which made Daskin flush all the brighter.

"The Hero had at least one wound," Larynce replied, "though I do not believe it was severe."

Daskin was much more relieved than he let on, though he was still embarrassed to see that his father saw right through his act anyway. Link gave him a teasing half-smile, and all Daskin could do was sigh.

Link's smile faded as he looked back at the _Raptor'_s first officer, and his features took on a determined set instead. "Go on inside and get some rest," he said to Larynce. "I'll take over here."

"Thank you, sir," Larynce said gratefully, and with a nod to Daskin, he went over to the hatch leading inside the warship.

"Why don't you go inside and get some rest, too?" Link said to his son.

Daskin was thoroughly worn out from the long day, and he had no protests against this whatsoever. After asking one of the officers if they had any empty cabins, he followed the man inside the ship and didn't even stop to take off his boots or his sword before he collapsed facedown on the bed and fell fast asleep.

---

* * *

---

Despite the late hour, Queen Zelda was wide awake, pacing the balcony outside her bedchamber in Hyrule Castle as she extended her perceptions far to the south.

Her husband was sound asleep in their bed, back inside the large, opulently appointed room, but, Zelda knew, Renjamin was deaf to the currents of magic; he hadn't been awakened when she had, late at night, by a faint sense of powerful magic being used, creating ripples in the fabric of the universe.

Through further observation, Zelda had discovered that the cloud blocking her senses from the south had been lessened, and while she could not observe the area unimpeded, it was enough that she could make out faint impressions, like shapes behind a gauzy curtain.

Her daughter was alive and well, deep in the Far South, and while the Queen was immensely relieved at this, she was also puzzled; what were she and her companions doing all the way down there?

Further surprising her, the Queen realized that her daughter was now one of the Triforce Bearers, holding Wisdom as she had in her youth. Arnak's daughter Lynaka held Courage, and while this was indeed good news, it was also puzzling, for it marked the first time Zelda knew of that Courage had gone to a Gerudo. Power had been held by a member of that people multiple times throughout Hyrule's long history, but that piece of the Golden Power was not in the same area as its counterparts.

As she further searched for it, Zelda found that she could not sense its location; it was active, she knew, but she could not tell where. This was troubling, for if any of the Triforce pieces were dangerous in untrained hands, Power was the most; it was capable of incredible things, and had a capacity for great evil if held by one with a dark heart.

A further twinge of magic alerted the Queen to the fact that someone had used the portal outside the city, and since only a few people had the capability to use such Twili magic, she knew whatever was going on almost certainly concerned her.

Zelda confirmed this as she sensed that the visitor was none other than Midna, so she went back inside to find a robe and slippers. Quietly, so as not to wake her husband, Zelda opened the door of their bedchamber and moved out into the hall beyond, empty and quiet at this late hour.

The Queen tightened the belt of her robe as she moved quickly through the halls of her home, sensing the servants moving around in the passageways hidden behind a few of the walls, shortcuts between the various rooms of the enormous castle.

When she was nearly to the reception hall at the base of the central keep, Zelda paused as a familiar presence caught sight of her and hurried to catch up.

Her future son-in-law, Horys, moved at a fast walk to join her, his footsteps muffled by the thick carpet in the middle of the hallway. The tall, slender young man adjusted his glasses a few steps away, and inclined his head respectfully as he came to a stop next to the Queen. He was still dressed, she saw, and was very tired.

"Your Majesty," Horys said, absently trying to smooth down his blond hair, "I apologize for the lateness of my arrival, but I was so close I decided to continue on. I hope I didn't wake you."

Zelda shook her head, and as she sensed Midna moving through the city, she decided that she had a few moments to talk to Horys before she was drawn into other business.

"I was already awake," the Queen replied. "I was not expecting you," she said, looking back at him.

Viserys' younger son smiled. "Well, I was eager to see Zelda," he said. "I hoped to arrive in time to be here when she woke."

The Queen smiled; he often did that, arriving unexpectedly to surprise her daughter, usually with a story of what he and his brother and father were up to. He often brought a small gift, which was what the Queen suspected the bulge in the pocket of his dark blue jacket was, just above the hilt of his sword.

"My daughter is not here, unfortunately," the Queen said. "She left a few days ago on an investigation, along with several companions."

"More research on the Blood Curse?" Horys asked, violet eyes inquisitive behind his rectangular glasses.

Zelda nodded. "Arnak's daughters accompanied her, as they have also been tasked by their mother to investigate their people's curse. They went to the desert first, then to the Dark Lord's fortress in the north."

Horys frowned slightly. "I wish she had called me," he said, concern tingeing his voice. "I would readily have gone with her."

The Queen gestured in the direction of the Far South, where she could dimly sense her daughter and her companions. "Zelda and the others are now in the Far South," she said. "Though at the moment, I do not know why."

"Why would-" Horys began, a puzzled look on his face, but he was interrupted by the door at the end of the hall opening.

Zelda looked over to see Midna striding toward them, her long black robe flaring out behind her from the speed of her movement. Her expression was grave, and Zelda's suspicions were further raised; something was troubling her friend, and she sensed it was somehow related to the rest of what was going on.

"The Twilight Realm has been attacked," Midna said without preamble, stopping next to the Queen and Horys. "A sorceress controlling an army of men in black and purple uniforms invaded my home and assaulted the palace. None of them were transformed in the Twilight, and the men vanished into smoke when we killed them."

Zelda absorbed this, thinking quickly. "I am not familiar with any army that uses black and purple uniforms," she said. "Could you describe the sorceress?"

"Thin, with pale skin and black curly hair," Midna replied. "She wore black and purple robes, heavy with brocade, and her eyes were a glowing purple, with no pupils. She spoke with an accent I didn't recognize." Midna imitated the sorceress' accent as she repeated the mage's last words.

"That's a Far Southern accent," Horys said, pursing his lips in thought. "Kalean, I think, though it could be Pojinish, as well. The accents are very similar."

Midna turned to Horys. "This army was from the Far South somewhere?"

He nodded. "The sorceress was, at least," he replied. "Much of that territory is still unexplored, at least by our forces, so it's entirely possible an army or two is hiding in the jungle." Horys frowned, reaching up to adjust his glasses again. "Though why they would attack the Twilight Realm, I don't know. There shouldn't be any way to get across the border without alerting either the Hyrulians or the Gerudo."

"Magic," Zelda said. "The mage likely teleported her force into the Arbiter's Grounds."

Midna scoffed disgustedly. "Oh, that's _just_ what we need," she growled. "A dark army that can teleport anywhere it wants to go. How do you defend against that?"

"With more magic, I would assume," said Horys. "My father needs to be told about this; we need to come up with some way of countering their abilities."

Midna turned a wry look upon the Queen's future son-in-law. "Magic doesn't work that way, kid," she said. "You can't just wish yourself a new ability and make it so. If there's any way to block teleportation, I certainly don't know it."

"Raneses knew," Zelda said, looking at her fellow ruler. "Both he and Ganondorf had a way to block magic around a certain area."

"Yeah, and they're both unhelpfully dead," Midna countered. "And even if they weren't, they wouldn't share their secrets with us."

She absently plucked at the hem of her long black robe, looking between Zelda and Horys. "My husband and son are down in the Far South with the army," Midna said. "I need to get back to them as quickly as I can."

Zelda made her decision, one that had been nagging at her ever since she had first sensed her daughter down in the Far South. "I'm going with you," she said. "My daughter and her companions are there as well, and I need to speak to them."

"I'll have my airship made ready, then," Horys said, but Midna stopped him with an upraised hand.

"No need to take the long way," she said. "I can take us right there. Besides, you two still need some sleep." She grinned teasingly at Horys. "I doubt your fiancée would appreciate you passing out while you're catching up."

Horys chuckled. "I suppose so," he agreed. "Very well then. I will accompany Your Majesties in the morning, say, six o'clock?"

Zelda nodded. "I will have all the necessary preparations made by then."

As she returned to the royal apartments, the Queen reflected on the situation, and what she knew of it. Sleep would not be easy after this, she knew, but it was vital for her to be thinking as clearly as possible tomorrow.

Something sinister was going on, Zelda knew, and she was determined to learn as much as she could about it before whatever dark force behind the recent events turned its sights on her kingdom.

---

* * *

---

The next morning, Lynaka ran a comb through her wet hair as she looked out of her window at the camp outside, still putting itself together. She had just finished taking a shower in the small washroom, after spending nearly ten minutes trying to get the unfamiliar contraption figured out. It was really too bad there wasn't enough water in the desert to suggest building one to her mother; she rather liked it. Apparently her cabin was one usually reserved for higher-level officers; she'd since learned that most barracks only had one or two showers which had to be used in turn.

After dressing, she was waiting for her hair to dry so she could braid it, when she heard a knock at her door. She said that it was open, and Daskin poked his head in, his own reddish-orange hair wet.

"Ah, got your water-fountain thing figured out, eh?" he said with a grin, stepping inside. He wore a dark blue shirt under his usual dark gray jacket and black trousers, his sword hanging at his side. "Took me a while to get mine working," he said, gesturing to the door to the washroom. "Never seen something like that before." He grinned again. "Too bad there isn't room for one of those things on the _Phoenix_, right?"

Lynaka laughed, bringing her other hand up to assist the comb in working through a tangle in her hair.

"Anyway," Daskin said, his grin fading, "I heard you had some trouble last night." He gestured to the slash wound on her upper shoulder that she had yet to rewrap this morning. "You all right?"

Lynaka waved her hand dismissively. "I've had worse in sparring," she said, raising her arm to show him a short, thick scar on the underside of her left forearm, a memento of a time she had been too slow in blocking during a match with one of her aunts a few years ago.

"The same guys attacked my mother's palace last night," Daskin said, crossing his arms as he leaned against the wall. "Neither she or my father had ever seen uniforms like theirs before, and since we learned that they attacked here, too, my dad was hoping to learn something about them. He's already been in to see your prisoner." Daskin made a face. "Stinky fellow," he said, smirking. "Hasn't said anything yet, though. Maybe he's mad 'cause Aeron had him hosed down to cut the stench."

Lynaka laughed again, tilting her head as she pulled the comb through another wet length of hair. Then something he had said finally caught up with her, and she gave him a puzzled look. "They managed to get into the Twilight Realm? How?"

Daskin frowned angrily. "Killed the guards at the Arbiter's Grounds and used the Mirror," he replied. "Did a lot of damage, too, before we finished them off. That woman Val who showed up here last night's been talking to my father for the last hour or so, and she sent me here to see if you were up yet."

Lynaka pushed her hair back over her shoulders and reached for the clean bandage the doctor had left behind when he examined her gash earlier that morning. "Just let me wrap my shoulder and I'll be right there," she said.

"Here, I'll help you," Daskin said, moving forward. "My dad taught me about this kind of stuff."

His hands were surprisingly gentle as he placed the pad on the gash, then wrapped the bandage around her shoulder and upper arm tightly, but not uncomfortably so.

"So, did you talk to your parents?" Lynaka asked as he worked.

Daskin smiled. "I did. We're not back to the way we were, of course, but they've pretty much said that the past is the past, so we should just make up and go on," he said. His fingers lightly touched her shoulder. "All done," he said.

She smiled up at him in thanks, and he cleared his throat uncomfortably, flushing slightly as he took a step back.

"I'll, uh, I'll see you in the mess hall," Daskin said, still blushing, and he almost hurriedly turned and left, nearly fleeing her room.

Lynaka looked down at the bandage on her shoulder, then up at the door. She sighed amusedly, then smiled as she picked up her comb again.

---

* * *

---

A little while later, Princess Zelda looked up from her seat next to Horys in the captain's dining room as Lynaka entered, followed by Erike. Both girls looked rested and refreshed, she thought, their wounds bandaged and their clothes washed and mended from the previous night's battle. They looked the way she felt; ready to tackle the day's problems head-on, and sort out just what was behind the attacks.

With the arrival of Arnak's daughters, the group was complete. Also here, besides Zelda, her fiancé, and Aeron, were Lord Fenris and his wife, Midna, Daskin, and the Emissary, Val. Queen Zelda and Arnak had also joined them, having come along with Midna and Horys. Impa stood silent watch next to the door, and she closed it after Lynaka and Erike entered, taking up position in front of it.

Lynaka sat down in one of the chairs along the wall, adjusting her scimitar on her belt, and draped her long red braid over her shoulder. "So," she said without preamble to Val. "Who are the Divine Host, and why did they attack us?"

Zelda knew a little from being present during part of Val's talk with Lord Fenris and Midna, who knew her from the war, but she waited quietly for Val to begin, wanting to hear it again. Horys was equally attentive next to her, one arm around her shoulders. His fingers tapped out a slightly impatient rhythm on her shoulder, and Zelda smiled despite the situation, glad to be back with him again.

The Emissary stood, placing her hands on her hips over her sword belt. "For you to fully understand the Divine Host's purpose, I will first have to explain their master to you." Val glanced over at Impa, standing before the door. "What I am about to tell you is not a secret, but Lord Fenris and I have agreed that it is probably best that the story does not spread to the men. We will tell them that the Divine Host is a new threat from the South, led by sorcerers wielding dark magic. This much is true."

She looked around at the room full of people. "The tale of the Divine Host's master is a long one, and we have other concerns at this time, so I will be brief.

"The Golden Goddesses I serve had many children before they created the world, and the foremost of these was Din's eldest son. Through a long series of complicated events, one I do not have time to relate to you at the moment, his heart turned to evil, and he swore himself the enemy of his mother and aunts, including anyone who sided with them. He declared himself a Dark God, dedicating himself to the evil powers he had crafted."

Val gestured outside. "Part of the truce that ended his war with the Golden Goddesses was an oath, taken by all deities, that they would never again directly interfere with mortal events. Instead, the gods use agents, mortal servants through whom they enforce their will. Majacen and I are agents of the Goddesses, part of a long tradition stretching back thousands of years."

"I have never heard of any Dark God," Arnak said, his thickly muscled arms crossed over his massive chest. He towered over the others in the room, his head only a few inches from the ceiling. "Nor have I ever heard of any war between the gods." His deep voice was tinged with just a hint of suspicion, though Zelda could tell he was not rejecting the story outright.

"The Dark God wishes that to be so," Val replied, her expression dark and her tone grave. "He prefers to operate from the shadows, and so most mortals think him mostly myth, if they know of him at all. This suits him all the better, as his preferred weapons are manipulation and subversion in his work to thwart his mother and aunts however he can.

"Many of the evil men who have attacked Hyrule have been his agents, such as the Sorcerer who opposed the Hero of Lightning." Val paused, with a glance at Link and Daskin, who perked up slightly at the mention of their ancestor.

"It is debated whether Ganondorf and Raneses IV were," Val continued. "Majacen does not believe Ganondorf was, though he has his suspicions about Raneses, considering some of the powers he displayed."

"The fourth?" Daskin asked, a puzzled look crossing his features.

"The most recent Raneses was the fourth king of the Gerudo to bear that name," Erike explained. "He dishonored himself, and so he no longer has the right to bear his name, but his kingship was legitimate. The name originated with Raneses the Great, our first king." She cocked an eyebrow, adopting a faintly disgusted expression. "It is an odd quirk of fate that our most respected king and our most despised share a name."

Princess Zelda nodded; she'd thought much the same thing during her own research on the Gerudo.

"So, about the Divine Host?" Aeron said, crossing his arms as he leaned back in his chair. Zelda had to hide a smile; that was one of the many things he shared with his father, a desire to get right to the point in information concerning him and his plans. Horys and their sister Erys were much the same way, as well.

Zelda glanced over at Horys, and both saw and sensed through the Triforce of Wisdom that he was deep in thought, turning over all this new information in his analytical mind. He was paying very close attention, she knew, preparing to offer any suggestions he could.

On the other side of the room, seated next to Lord Fenris, the Queen's posture was much the same way. She had yet to add anything to the conversation, but Zelda knew her mother was processing everything and comparing it to what she already knew, formulating preliminary strategy already. Zelda marveled at this, hoping she herself could eventually bring her own mind into such a state of organization.

She brought her thoughts back to the present as Val continued, looking back over at the Emissary.

"Over the millennia, the Dark God has had a number of mortal followers," Val said, glancing over at the long window, as if to see beyond it far into the south, where this mysterious army apparently originated. "Some have been more open about their following than others, and among the most open are the Divine Host, an organization that have proudly dedicated themselves to the Dark One and his will. Their army is little more than a massive gang of thugs given uniforms and weapons and then set loose on whatever target they decide to prey on.

"They are often commanded by sorcerers, elite mages given dark powers by the higher-level members of the Host, who are rumored to receive their own powers directly from the Dark God himself." Val gestured to Lynaka and Midna behind her. "The Hero and Lady Midna each destroyed one of these sorcerers, and as a result, their divisions lost direction and became disorganized. You have already located their weakness; the Divine Host imprints its soldiers with a strong Shadow taint, so that they are easier to control, but unfortunately, it is also one of their strengths. Some of the more powerful mages within their ranks have learned to reconstitute defeated soldiers, in effect making their numbers limitless as long as the sorcerer-commander is alive."

Aeron and Daskin both let out a sulfurous curse at this, amusingly the exact same one, and Zelda noticed Lynaka try to hide a smile as she hid her own. The two young men looked at each other and chuckled briefly before returning their attention to Val.

The Emissary herself cocked an amused eyebrow. "I believe my reaction was much the same when I first learned this," she said with a bit of a smile. "Majacen was, predictably, not amused at my choice of language."

Those who knew the wizard chuckled at this, but quickly stopped as Val's expression turned dark again. "He has been captured," she said quietly. "Nearly four months ago, he and I were traveling not far from here, investigating rumors that the Host was active again, when we were set upon by a large group of sorcerers. They managed to wound me and left me for dead, but Majacen they took away to some fortress of theirs that I have not yet been able to locate." She glanced over at Lynaka. "Once I sensed that the Triforce had again been split, I made my way to you as quickly as I could, both to offer assistance and request it in rescuing the Wizard, if he is still alive."

Zelda gasped at hearing Majacen was in the hands of such a malicious group; since both of her grandfathers had died either before she was born or while she was too small to know them, the kindly old wizard was the closest thing she had. She always looked forward to his visits, and loved his stories, some of which were about her mother and some about her ancestors that he had met and helped over the course of his long life. He had a vivid memory and a masterful gift for storytelling, so it was almost like seeing history come to life when she talked to him.

She met Lynaka's eyes across the room, and the Hero silently nodded, affirming her intention to go find Majacen as soon as possible. Zelda smiled gratefully. Next to her, Horys clasped her shoulder warmly, promising the same thing. His violet eyes were determined behind his glasses, and she knew he was already formulating and modifying strategies, the same way his father and brother did.

"Something has to be done about this Divine Host," Aeron said gravely, a steely look in his eye. "An army openly devoted to the forces of darkness will undoubtedly attempt to conquer as much territory as they can to capture more slaves for their master." He rested his elbow on the table, propping his head on his hand thoughtfully with one fingertip resting against his temple. "I suspect the force that attacked us last night was an expeditionary one, one meant to test our defenses and measure our strength. Depending on what they took away from the battle, they may assault us with greater numbers at a later date."

He glanced down the table at Link and Midna. "Lady Midna," he said to her, "do you have any theories as to why another force attacked the Twilight Realm?"

"Probably to steal something," she replied. "Magic artifacts from my world can horribly distort things in this one, so they were probably after something to cause trouble with." She grinned challengingly. "They found trouble, all right, but not the kind they were expecting." Midna patted her husband's shoulder and grinned at her son, who grinned back.

Zelda saw the look that passed between the members of Link's family, and made a note to talk to them more about what had happened later. With that in mind, she spoke up for the first time in the discussion.

She gestured to Lynaka. "The Hero found a message from one of her predecessors describing a place called the Heavenly Vault, filled with magic artifacts the Hero of Lightning and Majacen collected. I propose that our group seek out this vault, while the rest of you further the preparations against the Divine Host."

The Hero nodded. "I will first devote myself to finding Majacen and freeing him. Then, as Zelda said, I will seek out the Heavenly Vault with his assistance."

Val looked over at Lynaka. "I know of the Vault, but I do not know where it is. Majacen has told me that he has made sure it cannot be accidentally stumbled upon, and also that only a Triforce Bearer or an Emissary can enter it. It should be safe for now, even against the Dark One's sorcerers."

Arnak moved one hand down to rest on the pommel of the Goron-made greatsword at his side, frowning beneath his thick beard. "I have spoken to my wife," he said, looking over at his daughters. "She is aware of the situation, and pledges the support of the Gerudo for whatever endeavor we agree on. But," he said, looking down at the Queen, "she asks for assistance in securing the Mirror of Twilight against further assault."

Zelda's mother looked up at the former Bearer of Power, folding her gloved hands in her lap. "I am unsure of what can be done," she admitted. Queen Zelda looked over at Midna. "Apart from temporarily breaking the Mirror into pieces, as Zant did during his invasion, I do not know of any way certain to prevent the Divine Host from entering the Twilight Realm."

"The Sheikah have sealed all of the other entrances to the Twilight Realm," Impa announced. "At this time, the Mirror is the only viable portal."

"We don't have enough mages ourselves to protect it, either," Link said, looking around at the others. "There aren't many in Hyrule who dedicate themselves to the study of magic anymore."

"There rarely have been," the Queen said. "With the Triforce to protect us, not many Hylians in my realm have felt it necessary to tap into their potential."

Midna stood, and the others fell silent, directing their attention to her. "We need to solve one problem at a time," she said. "The Mirror of Twilight is our first priority, and we need to secure it as soon as possible." She looked around at the others. "I can keep the Mirror with me, if I stay in the Light World," she said, glancing down at her husband and son. "It looks like that's what I'll have to do, since you're going to need all the help you can get against an army of dark mages. I can use my magic to store the Mirror, so no one can use it except us."

"That is settled, then," the Queen said. She looked over at Lord Fenris. "The campaign must be halted in light of this new development; Hyrule's armies must be withdrawn to protect the kingdom against an assault by the Divine Host, which is a certainty. If they are after artifacts of magic, there are many in Hyrule, some potent enough for them to wreak unimaginable harm."

Link nodded gravely; Zelda knew that while he had found several of these himself, and there were many more in the royal vaults below the castle, there were potentially dozens of powerful magic items waiting in their temples in the wilder regions of Hyrule, guarded only by whatever traps the builders had erected. If a Hero could get inside and retrieve them, then a determined sorcerer almost certainly could do the same.

"I will call for more airships to transport our troops back to our cities," said Aeron, placing both hands on the table. "My father will have a better strategy, I am sure, but for now, I believe it wisest for us to fortify our collective holdings as well as we can until we have the full measure of this new threat."

"We all have much to do," said the Queen. "Let us get to it."

---

* * *

Author's Note: Those of you who read '_The Hero of Lightning_' have already seen the Dark God's backstory in Chapter 6, but a fuller version of the tale will be provided in this story in upcoming chapters. I'm busy writing new chapters right now, so the next update will be up soon. Till next time, thanks for reading!


	9. The Freedmen's King

Nine

"Where's Lynaka?" Daskin asked, coming over to stand next to Erike. They were on the upper hull of _Auric Raptor_, watching the ground flash past underneath them as the huge warship sped for the nearest Balacruf city.

Erike leaned against the railing surrounding the upper walkway of the ship, meant for archers during aerial battles, and looked over at the tall young man next to her. "She is inside, with Val," she replied. "The Emissary said that she had some things to discuss with my sister during the flight."

Daskin rubbed at his hand absently, and Erike noted the new glowing blue-green markings there, half-hidden by the sleeve of his jacket. He saw her looking, so he pulled his sleeve up to expose the whole tattoo. It covered most of his forearm, she saw, twisting in swirling geometrical patterns nearly up to his elbow.

"Twili glyphs," he explained. "My mother gave them to me before she left, along with some others." He grinned as he turned his hand palm-upwards and let a small, crackling orange ball of energy form there. "She taught me teleportation and some other stuff, too. Quite useful, I think." He flicked the sphere away, where it dissipated quickly.

Erike nodded silently. She had wondered what he was up to during the day they had taken to organize the army for its march back to Hyrule, since she had not seen him the entire time. Now, they were on their way to a Balacruf city to meet with Aeron and Horys' father, Viserys, and seek his counsel on the situation. From there, they would use the city as a base of operations to search for the wizard Majacen.

A door opened behind them, and Princess Zelda emerged, her fiancé a step behind. Zelda was smiling cheerfully, Erike observed, something she had been doing much more than usual since Horys had arrived. Viserys' younger son and the princess had been practically inseparable for the last two days, spending most of their time with each other. Impa, on the other hand, had been mostly silent, even more so than usual, and Erike thought she was probably annoyed at being forced to play chaperone as well as bodyguard.

The Sheikah warrior stepped out of the hatch a moment later and took up position next to it, watching the group with sharp eyes. Zelda smiled in greeting as she and Horys walked over to stand next to Daskin and Erike, looking down at the swiftly passing terrain.

"The _Phoenix_ is almost completely repaired," Zelda said, placing one hand on the railing. Her other hand clasped one of Horys', and the simple, affectionate gesture made Erike smile to herself.

"That's good," said Daskin. "Though it'll be a bit crowded, won't it? How many of us are going to be packed into that little thing?"

"The five of us," Horys replied, reaching up with his free hand to adjust his glasses, "plus Lynaka, Val, and Majacen once we find him." He gestured off in the direction of the _Raptor_'s hangar bay. "The _Phoenix_ is designed for a crew of four, but she can easily seat ten if need be. Some of us will just have to camp outside, I suppose."

"Joy," Daskin deadpanned. "More sleeping on the ground."

Erike hid a smile at his joke; she enjoyed his sarcastic sense of humor more than she let on, but didn't want to encourage him. He'd only get more silly if she did.

"Do you have any ideas as to where the Divine Host might be keeping Majacen?" Erike asked, looking over at the others.

"Not a one," Horys replied, frowning. The wind ruffled his pale blond hair as he thought for a moment. "I'm afraid I don't know of any large fortresses in the area, though that certainly doesn't mean they aren't there."

"Anything could be hidden in this jungle," Zelda agreed. "I am hoping Lord Viserys' information network might be able to provide us with some clues." She half turned to look back at Impa. "The Sheikah are already searching, as well, and I am confident we will soon have something to go on."

Impa nodded once. "Things don't stay hidden for long once my people begin searching for them," she said, one corner of her mouth quirking slightly.

Beside the Sheikah warrior, the hatch opened again, and Lynaka stepped out. Erike turned further as she saw that her sister was wearing new clothes.

Lynaka now wore a dark green sleeveless garment somewhat like a vest, with loose tan pants tucked into mid-calf-length dark brown leather boots. A long, bright green ribbon bound her hair now, instead of the usual short leather tie, and, most interesting, the orange jewel she usually wore on her forehead had been replaced with one of similar shape and cut, but a dark green in color, not unlike an emerald. She also wore dark brown fingerless gloves, which were tucked into brown leather bracers that covered most of her forearms. Her scimitar hung from its usual belt across her hips, but a few more of the dark green jewels had been added to the belt as decoration. The outfit was similar to those Erike had seen that Hylian Heroes had worn in the past, but with a clear Gerudo influence in the style.

Next to her, Daskin grinned, turning to lean back on the railing. "Nice," he said. "Very heroic."

Lynaka smiled. "Thank you," she said, moving to stand next to Erike. "Val helped me make this. She said I needed to wear something that reflected my new position, and I agreed with her."

"_I am glad you decided to make it reflect your heritage_, _as well,_"Erike said quietly in Gerudo.

"_Of course,_" Lynaka replied in the same language. "_She wanted something more traditional, but I insisted on this. I do not serve the Golden Goddesses as a representative of Hyrule, but the Gerudo, and I wanted that made plain._"

Erike nodded approvingly. "Does the Emissary have any further advice?" she asked, switching back to Hylian.

"Not right now," said Lynaka. "She spoke to Father for a little while before he left with Midna and the Queen, but I do not know what about."

Erike turned back to the view below the airship, reminded of their father's parting words to his daughters.

"I am very proud of you," he had said to Lynaka as they stood outside the _Auric Raptor_ early this morning. "This is a high honor for you, but a most serious duty, as well." Arnak reached out to grasp Lynaka's forearm in a warrior's salute, his huge hand dwarfing her own. "You are a Triforce Bearer now, Lynaka," he continued. "I know you will bring much honor to your family and your people on your quest."

"I will, Father," Lynaka said. "I will do my best."

"Your mother and I expect no less," Arnak replied, smiling beneath his thick dark beard. Next, he turned to Erike, looking down at her with a serious expression. "Do whatever you can to help your sister, Erike," he said. "She has a great destiny before her, but you do, also."

Her father reached out to clasp Erike's shoulder, and met her eyes warmly. "You represent our family and our people, as well. You will meet many strangers who have never heard of the Gerudo, many who do not know your prowess with the blade." He grinned fiercely. "Give those who would serve the forces of darkness cause to tremble at the mere mention of your mother's people. Make them cower at the sound of our war-cry, weep in fear at the sight of our steel."

Erike nodded solemnly. "I will, Father."

Arnak gathered both of his daughters into a hug, smiling down at them. "Your mother sends her love," he said, "and her approval of your accomplishments so far, as well." He squeezed both of their shoulders again. "Earn our pride," he finished, using an old Gerudo saying.

Lynaka nodded as she stepped back. "We will. Send Mother our love."

Arnak touched one fist to the opposite shoulder in farewell, then moved off to join Midna and Queen Zelda. He held in one huge hand the jeweled scimitar Erike had found in the Dark Lord's fortress, bringing it back to its rightful owner, their mother. Erike was glad they had accomplished that much of their mission so far.

A question from Daskin brought Erike back to the present, to the bow of _Auric Raptor_ soaring above the ground. She did not catch the question itself, so she paid close attention to the answer.

"He should be," Horys replied. "My father sometimes travels with the army, but usually he stays at the capital, where he can organize everything from a central location."

"Oh, good," said Daskin, drumming the fingers of his left hand against the pommel of his sword. "I've always wanted to meet him."

Horys gestured out at the rapidly approaching city below them. "It won't be long now," he said. "There's Nimbus City."

Erike looked down at the Balacruf capital, renamed after a previous structure, she knew. A captured slaver city, Nimbus City was built on top of a low hill, with the central fortress at the very center, where it had the greatest visibility. The city surrounded it, flowing down over the hill and good deal beyond, interrupted occasionally by the thick ring of a protective wall. It was intimidating, and Erike momentarily wondered how the allied army had ever taken it before she remembered the airships; walls were worthless against an attack from the air.

The architecture was, in Erike's opinion, hideous, filled with thick, sharp lines and endless embellishments. She knew Viserys' people had not built the city, and in fact, as they got closer, she could see that large parts of the original architecture had been replaced by simpler, more elegant lines, the embellishments stripped away. She half-smiled to herself; she wouldn't have been able to bear living in such an ugly city without doing something to it, either.

For one thing, the whole layout of the city seemed deliberately designed to remind those who lived in the lower levels that those who lived at the top of the hill were better than they were. The walls were huge and intimidating, in the spirit of a gigantic, threatening hand poised to slap down any who opposed the city's rulers.

Thousands of slaves had once lived here, she knew, bought and sold in the city's markets by their cruel masters, who, from the stories Aeron and Horys had told her, had taken malicious glee in beating one to death in the central square every now and then to dishearten the others.

When the Hyrulian army had come to the city, backed up by the Balacruf fleet, the slaves had risen in revolt, striking back at their oppressors with such fervor that there was little for the liberating army to do once it finally breached the city's defenses. Many of the citizens of Nimbus City were former slaves, set free by the joint armies.

One interesting fact Aeron had brought up over dinner last night was that the majority of the allied armies in the Far South were now made up of former slaves; once they had begun liberating the slaver cities, the freedmen had joined in droves, eager to help free their fellow slaves from the crushing fist of the slavers. While some just wished to move on with their lives and settle down in the newly freed cities, thousands upon thousands of former slaves swelled the ranks of the army, with more joining all the time.

The kingdoms of the Far South were slowly being reorganized and rebuilt, and with hundreds of thousands of eager hands, work was progressing very quickly.

The atmosphere of the city, even from the air, was one of vibrancy, a great zeal for life. Shouts and other noise rose up from the city, but Erike heard nothing in them that was pained or in despair; what she heard was the sounds of a people rejoicing in every free moment they had. It made her smile, and as she glanced over at her sister, she saw that Lynaka smiled, too.

Horys gestured out at a wide landing field a level below the central fortress. "We'll be setting down there," he said. "It used to be a slave market, and since many former slaves don't want to go there, we've put it to better use."

Erike saw a number of other ships scattered over the landing field, ranging from huge warships to smaller airships not much bigger than the _Phoenix_. Hundreds of people in identical uniforms moved between them, just barely distinguishable at this altitude, their innumerable conversations melting into a dull babble occasionally punctuated by a shouted order.

As the massive warship settled in for a landing, Erike and the others went back inside to prepare for the next phase of their journey and their meeting with Lord Viserys.

---

* * *

---

Lord Viserys had been apprised of their arrival, and had made arrangements for them to come in to see him immediately. As they moved from the landing field to the central fortress of the city, Daskin looked around, taking note of the construction taking place on many of the buildings around them.

The central fortress itself was an enormous castle surrounded by a wall thick enough to race chariots on, as Daskin had heard some kingdoms did. It reminded him somewhat of the Dark Lord's castle in the north, built in thick, opulent lines that gave it a vaguely threatening air. High above, an army of carpenters and masons were currently stripping away much of the opulence to replace it with smoother, more elegant lines. The castle was an odd combination of extravagance and simplicity, as work had plainly been going on here for many years.

They passed through a courtyard full of soldiers training with their weapons, their drill instructors barking commands in the Balacruf language, which Daskin did not speak. There were the usual swords, pikes, and bows being used in the training, but Daskin's attention was drawn to a group of about a dozen men and women training with interesting-looking weapons that looked like small, slender cannons with a crossbow stock attached.

His father and mother had told him stories of how Viserys' soldiers had deployed their rifles, as the weapons were called, during the battle to retake Castle Town from Raneses' army. Another quarter century of research and testing had further improved the portable firearms, and the training regimen had also been improved, as the soldiers' clear familiarity with the weapons revealed.

A line of six dropped to one knee in front of their comrades, who waited behind. At the instructor's shouted command, the half-dozen soldiers fired, and with a sharp crack and flash, six holes appeared in a line of targets several dozen yards away. The six who had fired immediately turned and, with impressive coordination, switched places with the other six, who dropped to one knee in front of their comrades as the first group quickly reloaded their weapons.

Daskin saw Lynaka also watching, and he gestured at the soldiers with his thumb. "I'd hate to be on the wrong end of one of those," he said with a smirk.

The Gerudo warrior nodded in agreement. "Wars will never be fought the same way again," she said. She adopted a similar amused smirk. "Queen Zelda's advantages are approaching the point of unfairness now, wouldn't you say?"

Daskin laughed at this. "Definitely," he agreed. "Now all she needs is for a few hundred wizards to join her army and she'll be completely unstoppable."

"Considering the kind of threats Hyrule and her allies are facing," said Impa, walking along beside them, "that might be a good thing right now."

Daskin shrugged; that was true.

They were met at one of the huge gates of the inner keep by a somewhat short, impeccably dressed man with precisely trimmed dark brown hair who introduced himself as Friedrich. He led their group inside, through wide hallways hung with an assortment of decorative weapons and tapestries, more to break up the monotony of the thick dark gray walls than anything else, Daskin thought.

Aeron walked at the head of the group, talking to Friedrich as they walked. Both Horys and Zelda, Daskin noticed, barely glanced at the walls, obviously familiar with the building. Lynaka and Erike looked around with interest at the castle, as he did, but Val walked along near the back with Impa, both remaining mostly silent.

Finally, they stopped before a large set of wooden double doors, where two soldiers armed with pikes in their hands and swords at their belts stood guard, watching the group as they approached. Aeron nodded to the men, both of whom politely returned the silent greeting.

Friedrich opened the doors and gestured for them to go inside, but remained in the corridor himself. Inside, Daskin saw, the room was a smallish hall, perhaps once a dining room, but had been converted to a conference room instead, with a long, plain black table occupying the center of the chamber, surrounded by fifteen chairs; seven on each side and one at the far end.

Beside the chair at the head of the table stood a tall man in perhaps his late fifties or early sixties with thick snow-white hair and piercing violet eyes, wearing a gold-trimmed dark blue uniform and a long black cloak clasped with a silver falcon's-head pin, a sword at his side. The resemblance to Aeron and Horys was immediately obvious; this could be no one other than Lord Viserys, their father.

Viserys inclined his head in greeting to his sons, and offered a small smile to Zelda, his future daughter-in-law. Daskin thought to himself that a smile was not an expression that came to this man's face often.

"Any news from our spies, Father?" Aeron asked, moving to stand next to Viserys.

"Not yet," Viserys replied, his voice tinged with the same slight accent as his sons and the other soldiers Daskin had heard.

The thought crossed Daskin's mind at seeing them side-by-side that the two men looked almost exactly like younger and older versions of the same person, despite Aeron's slightly darker coloration, perhaps inherited from his mother. Horys, on the other hand, looked much different, almost certainly taking mostly after his mother except around the eyes and somewhat in the shape of his chin.

Daskin smirked to himself, realizing he was doing it again; having grown up the child of two markedly different people, he had developed the somewhat unconscious habit around parents and their children of trying to see which parent the child resembled more.

He only half listened as Aeron introduced their group, nodding in greeting when the young captain said his name, and looked around the chamber at the large maps spread over the walls, showing Hyrule's continent, mostly the Far South, but also some of Calatia across the western ocean.

Thus, when one of the other doors opened, Daskin was looking almost right at it instead of the others, who were talking to Viserys. Through the door walked a striking young woman, tall and slender, with short dark brown, almost black hair, wearing a Balacruf uniform. Her eyes were the same violet color as Viserys and his sons', but her skin was slightly darker, though not as dark as Lynaka or her sister. Her movements were graceful and feminine, though powerful at the same time, making it obvious just from the way she moved that she was quite experienced with the sword hanging from her belt. Daskin thought she was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen.

As he watched the young woman walk over to Viserys and Aeron, Daskin caught Lynaka's annoyed glance in his direction, not quite a glare but certainly getting there. He flinched somewhat guiltily, knowing his disguise enchantment made his blush much more obvious than it would have been with his natural appearance.

Daskin's blush grew deeper when he realized Horys was also looking at him, smirking slightly. The blond young man leaned toward Daskin slightly.

"You're not her type," he whispered amusedly. Daskin glared at him in reply, which only made Horys' smirk even more amused.

"Erys," Viserys said in greeting to the young woman.

"Father," she replied, inclining her head slightly. She held up a folded sheet of paper. "Repairs to _Falcon's Pride_ are completed. Captain Tyrone further reports that the resupply is nearly complete, as well."

"Excellent," Viserys said as he accepted the sheet of paper from his daughter. He glanced up at the group, particularly at Val, Daskin noticed, then looked back at Erys. "Please tell our guest that the visitors he is expecting have arrived."

Erys smiled slightly. "If he doesn't know already," she replied, a small trace of dry amusement in her tone.

One corner of Viserys' mouth quirked slightly in equally dry amusement, and he nodded fractionally in response. Erys cast a quick glance over the group, pausing slightly in greeting to her brothers, and then she turned and left the room.

"Please, sit," said Viserys, and he gathered his cloak about him as he sat down at the head of the table.

The others moved for seats, and Daskin made to sit next to Lynaka, but she gave him another annoyed look, and he thought perhaps it would be better if he didn't. Instead, he allowed Erike and Val to take the two seats next to Lynaka, and he sat down on the Emissary's other side. Aeron sat to his father's right, across from Lynaka, and Zelda sat down on his other side, Horys taking the seat next to her. Impa sat next to him, across from Daskin.

The group looked up as the door opened again, and except for Viserys, they nearly as one emitted gasps or other surprised exclamations at the person who walked through the door ahead of the returning Erys.

The man was old, appearing to be in perhaps his late seventies, with long white-and-gray hair streaked with a few strands of his original black. A long, similarly colored beard reached most of the way down the old man's chest, and above it twinkled dark green eyes, which watched the group's surprised reactions to his appearance with faint amusement. He was dressed in a brown robe, the tips of worn black boots poking out at the bottom, and he wore a dark gray cloak over this, which partially hid the ornately engraved sword with a Triforce symbol on the pommel hanging at his side.

"Majacen!" both Zelda and Val exclaimed in surprised unison.

"Greetings to you, Hero's Company," the old man said, his voice deep and rich. He walked over and sat down next to Impa, calmly looking back as the others stared at him in shock.

Daskin only dimly noticed as Erys sat down next to him, waiting for the wizard to explain himself.

"I thought you had been captured!" Val said, staring at her fellow Emissary.

"I had," Majacen replied, his face shifting into a serious expression. "I escaped my captors only yesterday. I would have contacted you then, but I required a bit of time to recover, and it turned out you were headed here anyway." He looked around the table. "Now that we are all here, I shall tell you of what happened to me.

"I was traveling with Val nearly four months ago in the jungles not far from here. We were investigating rumors that the Dark One's cult was active again in this area, and since I had purged them from these kingdoms once before, I was naturally concerned about a resurgence of the Enemy's followers."

"When was that?" Horys asked curiously.

"A little more than three hundred years ago," Majacen answered almost casually. "I was working with Daskin's ancestor the Hero of Lightning at the time."

"You're three hundred years old?" Aeron said, somewhat dubiously.

"Five hundred, actually," Majacen replied, his dark green eyes twinkling with amusement. He clearly received this reaction often.

If Daskin hadn't heard stories about the wizard from his parents from the time he was little, he might have had much the same reaction himself. The wizard looked much like any other older Hylian man, though he did have an inherently dignified bearing that did mark him apart in Daskin's perceptions.

That, and a powerful, almost crackling aura surrounding him through Daskin's higher senses; the old wizard was the most powerful magic-user Daskin had ever met in person, surpassing even his mother at the full extent of her powers. That was more than enough to give away the fact that whatever this old man might be, he was clearly no mere mortal.

"Returning to my explanation," Majacen said, shifting slightly in his chair. "Val and I were set upon by nearly three dozen sorcerers in the midst of a clearing. We fought, but they were too numerous and too powerful for us to overcome alone." The wizard's expression darkened. "I sensed the most unnatural of evil magic within them; these were creatures of the Dark God, given powers no mortal should be allowed to have by their master.

"Val they grievously wounded and left behind for dead, for their master had no need of her, but me they captured and bound with strong webs of magic, cutting me off from my gifts. By teleportation they brought me to their master's fortress far to the south of here. I still do not know its exact location, for reasons I shall explain shortly.

"The sorcerers brought me before their master, the Dark God's greatest mortal servant, he who leads the evil cult dedicated to the Enemy. I know him only as the Warlock, for if he has a right name, it was never spoken in my presence. I did not see his face, either, for he dresses as his master does when in physical form, in heavy dark robes with a hood that shadows his face. I could see only his eyes within that hood, glowing unnatural purple without pupils."

"Just like that sorceress my mother fought," Daskin said.

"And the sorcerer I killed," added Lynaka.

Majacen nodded. "The sorcerers within the Host's ranks change themselves thus as a sign of devotion to their master. The Warlock alters himself to match the Dark God's physical form as much as he can, seeing himself as the Enemy's avatar here in the mortal realms." The wizard scowled. "Their other rituals are bloody and perverse, and I will not sully your ears with a description of what I saw during my time there.

"The Warlock tried again and again to invade my mind, to rip free the secrets I hold which he wishes to give as an offering to his dark master, but even with my powers blocked from me, I was able to resist him. For four months he and his wicked accomplices attempted to wring what they wanted from me, but by the grace of the Goddesses, I was able to keep from breaking."

"What did they want to know?" Zelda asked concernedly.

The old wizard shook his head. "I never found out. They never asked me a direct question, trying again and again to rip what they wanted directly from my mind instead. Perhaps they reasoned that if I knew what they sought, I would guard it all the more fiercely." His expression became grave again beneath his thick beard. "They were certainly right."

"Then finally, yesterday," he continued, "a man draped in a concealing black cloak appeared at my cell in the dark fortress's dungeon and set me free. Despite the suppressing field around the dungeon levels, he was easily able to use magic, and removed my chains with little effort. When I asked him how he was able to do this, he replied that the sorcerer who had constructed the suppressing field had been foolish, leaving a way for himself to use magic within the dungeon, and it was this aspect of the field that the man was manipulating.

"He led the way out of the dungeons, passing through several secret passages until we found ourselves outside the fortress's walls. By teleportation he took us both from that place and brought us to a spot in the jungle an hour's walk from this city. There he returned to me the possessions that had been taken at the beginning of my imprisonment, save one. By this item's omission, I began to suspect my rescuer. When I asked him about the missing item, he grew quiet.

" 'You are fortunate your captors did not know the power of the things in your possession, old man,' said he. 'Such a thing could be disastrous in the wrong hands,' I replied. He regarded me silently for a few moments before he finally produced the missing item from beneath his cloak and placed it in my hand, but kept his fingers on top of it.

"He then asked me if I was going to seek the Bearer of Courage, and I replied that I was. 'Then tell her that the Great King of the past holds the solution,' he said, removing his hand from the item. 'If she has read the book she found, she will know what it means.' "

Majacen looked down the table at Lynaka, his expression growing even more serious. "Have you found some manuscript, Hero?" he asked.

Lynaka nodded and produced the book they had found in Ganondorf's pyramid, setting it on the table in front of her. "Zelda and I have only translated a little," she said. "We haven't had much time to spend on it since we found it in the Accursed One's fortress in the desert."

"Ah, the pyramid first built by the Zuna," said Majacen. "No doubt hidden somewhere?"

"In a secret compartment in one of the bookshelves," Daskin answered. "If I hadn't been looking for something like that, I doubt I would have found it."

"You have your father's instincts for exploration," Majacen said approvingly, a slight smile beneath his beard. The smile slowly faded as the wizard looked down at his belt, where he opened one of the leather pouches and drew out something concealed in his hand.

The wizard placed his hand on the table, and the attention of those gathered was drawn to it expectantly. When he removed his hand, Daskin saw a small blue elongated orb with a mouthpiece on one side and a number of circular holes at various places around it. He did not recognize the object, but by their expressions, Zelda, Impa and Val clearly did.

"Is that…?" Zelda breathed in awe.

"The Ocarina of Time," Majacen replied. "Your ancestor gave it to me for safekeeping nearly one hundred forty years ago. I am very thankful that my captors never discovered that this was in my possession, for they could have wreaked terrible harm with it."

"What does it do?" Viserys asked, eyes on the innocuous-seeming object.

"It allows those who know how to use it to travel through time, among other things," Majacen said. "As I said, its potential for destruction is alarming, should it fall into the hands of one who would use it with the intent of changing the past." The old wizard's eyes narrowed. "I must further tell you of my suspicions as to the identity of my rescuer. It is my belief that the man who freed me from the Warlock's fortress was none other than the present Bearer of the Triforce of Power. The implications of such a person wanting to keep this for himself are concerning at least."

"What?!" Lynaka exclaimed. "You've met the Bearer of Power? Who is he?"

Majacen shook his head gravely. "I do not know," he replied. "I never saw any of his face, but his voice and his aura both seemed vaguely familiar. I have been puzzling over it myself since then."

Daskin looked over at Zelda as he heard her gasp in realization, and was surprised to see that she had gone very, very pale, as if something had frightened her terribly. "It can't be…" she whispered in a very small voice.

"What is it?" Impa asked concernedly, her question echoed with equal concern a moment later by Horys, who touched his fiancée's arm.

Zelda composed herself quickly, passing a hand over her dark red hair. "Nothing," she said tersely. "Just a suspicion. Do not mind it."

"With a reaction like that, I'm definitely going to mind it," Horys said firmly.

Zelda shook her head again. "No, it's impossible," she said dismissively. "Please, Majacen, continue."

Daskin saw Lynaka's eyes widen in realization a moment later, and she looked down at the book in front of her. This in turn provoked a spark within Daskin's mind, and he felt his hands start to tremble at the implication. When he looked back up at Majacen, he saw that the old wizard had reached a similar conclusion.

"This is indeed disturbing, if it is true," he said gravely. "It makes the task I have for the Hero all the more urgent."

"What task is that?" Lynaka asked, looking down the table at him.

"You must come with me to the Heavenly Vault," Majacen said, meeting her eyes. "There you and your companions must retrieve weapons you will need in the coming battles against the Dark One's forces. If the Divine Host is stirring openly again, it can only mean their master has some grand plan to unleash against the Goddesses and their servants."

The wizard sighed deeply, and it seemed to Daskin that right then he showed every one of his more than five hundred years.

"I have spent centuries preparing for a time like this," Majacen said wearily. "I had hoped this day would never come upon us, but the evidence is beginning to suggest that it has."

"What do you mean?" asked Erys, the first time she had spoken thus far during the conversation.

Majacen looked across the table at her, a look of deep sadness and resignation on his face. Val answered for him. "Those of us who serve the Goddesses have long suspected that the Enemy is plotting a final offensive against his mother and aunts in secret," she said, her tone just as grave as the wizard's.

"The Golden Goddesses have been directing me to make preparations against this for almost three hundred years," said Majacen.

"I think you had better explain, wizard," said Viserys. "I have studied the legends of your land, and I have never encountered any reference to a Dark God."

"It's not a well-known story," Val said to him. "Perhaps deliberately so, kept quiet by both sides of the conflict. The Dark One himself is content to be thought a myth, and the Goddesses and their servants do not speak of him unless it is necessary."

"It is necessary now," Viserys said seriously. "If we are to fight some new threat, I want to be as well-informed as possible." He looked down the table at Majacen. "Start at the beginning, wizard. Tell me who this Dark God is, and why he wants himself to be thought a myth or not spoken of at all."

Majacen nodded. "It will take some time, but this is something you will all need to know for the coming battles. As Lord Viserys suggests, I will start at the beginning…"

---

* * *

Author's Note: Apologies for the long delay. Those of you who follow my Star Wars stories know I was busy with the most recent one for quite a while. I have several more chapters of this story written out now, so I will be focusing mostly on this for a few weeks. Thanks for reading!


	10. The Heavenly Vault

Ten

Princess Zelda shifted slightly in her seat, waiting for the wizard Majacen to begin his explanation. She had been waiting for this ever since the battle at the jungle camp, when Val had first mentioned the Dark God.

Majacen stood from his seat at the table and paced for a moment before looking over at the others. As he began, his deep, melodious voice took on a dramatic, storytelling air, one well suited for the subject.

"The Golden Goddesses I serve had many children, other gods they created before they made the world, to serve as helpers to them. The foremost among these was Din's eldest son, the Firstborn of the Children of the Goddesses. I cannot tell you his name, for I do not know it, but I will later explain why."

Looking around to make sure everyone was following, Majacen continued. "Over the eons, he helped his mother and aunts craft the mortal realms, worked with pride as they made the living creatures and finally mortals, the many intelligent races with which we share our world.

"When their Creation was finished, the Three withdrew into the heavens, leaving behind the Triforce as an artifact of their power. The guidance of the mortal realm they left to their children then, content with observing mortals' progress under their children's guidance.

"All was well for millennia as the Firstborn and the other Children of the Goddesses guided the mortals. His heart was pure then, and he delighted in doing his mother and aunts' will. The gods were more active in the affairs of mortals in those days, appearing directly to them as teachers and leaders, guiding mortal-kind on the path to prosperity, so that they might share in the gods' joy.

"However, the Firstborn observed his sisters and his cousins as they guided the mortals, and he gradually began to see what they were doing as interfering, disrupting the mortals' lives according to their whims instead of showing them the way of peace. The gods were very doting on their mortal children, often doing many things for them instead of showing them how to do it for themselves, and Din's son saw this as wrong, but kept his views to himself for many years. He said nothing to them, but for several centuries he quietly grew more and more irritated at his fellow immortals' actions.

"He began to reason to himself that the other Children of the Goddesses were unfit to rule the mortals; he thought that, as the Firstborn, eldest of all gods but the Three, _he_ was better suited to the task. The Firstborn thought that if he alone ruled over the mortal realms, what he saw as detrimental interference would cease."

Majacen paused, looking around at the group. "At least, this is what he claimed," he said, a dark tinge entering his voice. "It is more likely he actually wanted mortals to worship him alone, and merely made excuses to justify his actions to the other gods."

Zelda saw most of the gathered people listening nod or otherwise indicate agreement; what little they already knew of the Dark God fit with this.

The wizard continued. "Finally, one day, he saw one of Farore's daughters steer a mortal man away from a woman he had been showing interest in, and point him to another woman whom the goddess liked better. This was the figurative last straw, and the Firstborn grew full of rage at this. Angrily, he confronted his cousin, telling her it was wrong to deny mortals their free will, to control them in this way, but she replied that she saw no harm in it; they were gods, after all, and could do as they pleased, for they knew much more than mortals did.

"The Firstborn was so filled with wrath at her answer that he actually struck the goddess, the very first act of violence by one god against another. Farore's daughter fled in tears to the Firstborn's mother Din, who, shocked, demanded that her son apologize.

"He refused, angrily replying that he had been justified in what he had done; he said that his cousin was arrogantly controlling the lives of mortals instead of letting them think for themselves, and he vehemently insisted that this was wrong, condemning the actions of the other deities, who had been doing much the same thing with all mortals. Though the other gods did not learn this until much later, many of the Firstborn's arguments were specifically constructed to convert them to his own cause; he was plotting rebellion even then, preparing to try and seize rulership of the mortal realms for himself.

"Din and her son argued fiercely in the heavenly court, and the other gods gathered to listen, some taking the side of the Firstborn, and others taking the side of his mother, who maintained that there was nothing wrong with their present treatment of mortals; the mortals were still young and inexperienced, she argued, and to let them out into the world on their own would result in disaster."

Zelda listened with rapt attention, thinking all this over as Majacen paused for a moment. She had never heard this part of her world's history before, but she knew it was true; somehow, it seemed as if she subconsciously knew the story and was slowly remembering it as the tale continued, though she did not know what happened next.

Majacen resumed his story, his tone growing bolder and more dramatic now. "Finally, Din's son, his heart full of anger, grew frustrated with his mother and aunts, whom he declared to the other immortals were dismissing his concerns without considering them. Resentment joined the anger in his heart and gradually turned to hate. His idle thoughts of rebellion became firm in his mind, no longer a whim but now an intention.

"Din's son descended to the mortal realms and began controlling mortals himself, claiming that he was trying to show by example what was wrong with his sisters' and cousins' practices." Majacen shook his head, pausing for a moment to gesture in a puzzled manner. "I do not know what he thought during this time, for that has not been revealed to me, but it seems that something within him snapped, and a kind of madness took hold of the Firstborn, driving any trace of peace or gentleness from his heart. He nearly became a completely different person than he had been since his creation, becoming cold and brutal.

"He commanded mortals to disregard anything any of the other gods told them, or to do the opposite. Under his influence, the mortals behaved more and more irrationally, and eventually had a terrible war, despite the other gods' attempts to stop them. Some of the younger gods, seeing their cousin as the source of the trouble, attacked him, trying to make him stop. They reasoned that if Din's son and his followers were removed, peace would return."

Majacen shook his head sadly. "Instead, it only made things worse; the Firstborn returned their violence without hesitation, retaliating brutally. He gathered his followers among the immortals and commanded them to make war upon the Goddesses and anyone who still followed them. Din's son, being one of the most powerful gods, searched for ways to destroy his immortal cousins, inventing dark and unnatural powers in an attempt to find what he sought. His new powers further twisted the heart of the Firstborn, so that he was filled with wickedness and evil, and took pleasure in causing chaos and destruction among his enemies and their followers.

"Finally, the Three themselves tried to intervene, to stop the war between the gods. They commanded Din's son and his followers to surrender and allow their powers to be stripped away as punishment for what they had done. The rebellious deities refused, of course, and the war grew even worse.

"Enraged at the Goddesses' command, Din's son swore himself the eternal enemy of his mother and aunts and anyone who followed them, declaring himself the God of Darkness in opposition to the Goddesses' Light. He declared himself no longer the Firstborn, that all ties between him and the Creators were now severed forever. So angry was Din with her son at this final betrayal that she disowned him and eradicated his original name from the minds of all but herself and her sisters, for the Creators can forget nothing.

"The Dark God gave himself a new name to reflect his change of status, but I do not know it, nor would I speak it even if I did." Majacen's face shifted into a disgusted expression, as close to open hatred as Zelda had ever seen him, and this surprised her. Normally, the wizard was a very kind and gentle man.

Majacen continued. "The Dark God's immortal followers took the same oath of eternal enmity, and eagerly accepted dark powers from their leader as reward. These rebellious Children of the Goddesses now became demons, horrible perversions of their original forms twisted by the Enemy's vile powers.

"They spread their evil taint to the mortals, forever making evil and wickedness a part of the hearts of men. The Dark God and his demons renewed their war upon the Golden Goddesses and those who had remained loyal, even going so far as inciting the mortals to even more terrible wars against one another. All of creation was embroiled in the conflict, and the mortal world was nearly destroyed. All mortal civilization was eradicated; so great was the destruction that once it was over, nearly all beings had been reduced to primitives, mere shadows of their former glory."

Zelda was struck by the abject sadness on the old wizard's face as he paused, leaning on the table as he took a deep breath. "I have been allowed to see, in visions, what the world was like before the War Between the Gods. If any mortal can be said to achieve perfection, our forebears in this world had certainly come close; they had glorious cities that shone like platinum in the sunlight, wondrous devices the likes of which we may never see again. It is even said that they had learned to travel between the worlds, to journey to the other realms of creation to see the other myriad forms of life the Goddesses had wrought."

Majacen looked around the table at the silent, attentive group. "All that was destroyed. Almost no trace remains of the Golden Age, save worn ruins that are but the bones of the old, glorious cultures. Horrible weapons, both mechanical and magical, were fashioned by both god and man. Millions perished all at once, if you can even imagine such a thing, ripped from existence by fire and light like those of stars. Such was the power that entire cities were erased in an instant, burned away as if they had never been.

"The fighting went on, and the war had reached the point where nothing was left of mortal-kind but a few ragged bands of survivors, still fighting on even though they had long since forgotten the original reasons for the conflict. Finally, the Three Goddesses challenged the Dark God himself to a final battle to decide the issue, so that the complete destruction of their creation might be prevented. He and his most powerful followers went to the field of battle to accept the challenge, and so began a duel between titans the likes of which had not been seen before and has not been seen since.

"Their battle was a terrible one, raging all through the mortal realms as each of them summoned their most powerful abilities in an effort to destroy the opposing side. For an entire week they fought, trading blows with force enough to shatter mountains and level forests. Oceans boiled, the wind howled in powerful gales like never before, and the ground shook, a titanic upheaval of a kind not seen since the Creation as the gods battled.

"The Dark God and his demons had grown so powerful that even the Three together could not destroy them, but neither could the rebels destroy any of the Three, and so the battle reached an impasse. Finally, at a pause in the combat, wise Nayru proposed a truce to stop the destruction before their battle ruined the world beyond repair; she, her sisters, and all of their loyal children would swear an oath to never again directly interfere in mortal affairs if her nephew and his followers would swear the same oath.

"This suited the Dark God, and so he agreed, but he added that if any immortal ever violated their oath, he would renew his war upon them and would not stop until the mortal realms had been completely destroyed.

"All of the gods gathered in the heavenly court for the last time to swear the oath, but before they began, the Dark God again declared that he was better suited to ruling the mortals, that they would not willingly obey the Goddesses unless forced, and so he said that with this oath, mortals would have to decide for themselves who they wanted to follow; neither side could force servitude now.

"The oath was sworn, and all deities withdrew their influence from the mortal realm. As they watched, the surviving mortals made more and more mistakes, making war upon each other without end. The younger gods pleaded with their mothers to let them go down and stop the fighting, but no matter how much it pained the Three to see their creation disrupted and twisted, they could not allow it, for they knew the consequences. At least this way, there was still a chance for the mortals."

Majacen's face was serious for a moment, before he offered a small smile as he continued. "But Nayru, in her wisdom, found a way around the restriction; if she and her sisters used mortal agents to proclaim their will, the element of free choice would always be present; the agent could choose whether or not to deliver the message, and the people could choose whether or not to listen to it."

The wizard gestured to himself. "I am one of these agents," he said, "as is Val, though we attempt to be mostly unobtrusive. There are very few we tell of our true purpose, as the Goddesses still want to let mortals learn from their own mistakes. We are mostly guides, advisors for the Triforce Bearers more than anything else."

Viserys tapped the fingers of his left hand against the surface of the table for a moment before he finally spoke. "These sorcerers who lead this Divine Host are your counterparts among the enemy, then?"

From her seat between Erike and Daskin on Lynaka's side of the table, Val nodded. "Yes," she said. "There are far more of them than there are of us, unfortunately. The Golden Goddesses have always taken their oath more seriously than their Enemy, for he knows that they cannot destroy him if they were to attack, and that the Three are reluctant to damage any more of their creation in any possible battle."

Aeron frowned thoughtfully. "A war between the gods," he said slowly. "I would think something like this would endure in the various legends."

Val nodded, glancing over at Majacen, who gestured slightly for her to continue. "As we said, both sides of the war have kept it mostly secret, each for their own purposes. Not even the Royal Family of Hyrule knows this. All records before the war were destroyed, and it was a long time before civilization recovered enough to begin recording history again; anything circulating now would be only folklore."

Zelda nodded. "I have encountered a few references in the histories to some sort of tremendous war at the beginning of history, but none of them were very specific as to who or what the Goddesses were fighting. What few mentions of this ancient war I have found have been in explanation for a weapon or other powerful item found by one of the Heroes."

"Like the Staff of Lightning," said Daskin. "My grandfather did some research that my grandmother gave to my father not long after he found the staff, but that was pretty much all there was to it; the Zelda who wrote the Hero of Lightning's entry in the _Chronicles of the Heroes _just wrote that Link Fenris I told her the staff had been forged for some kind of war thousands of years ago."

"Queen Zelda II of my family's dynasty," the princess said almost automatically. She offered a small, wry smile. "Since my family has the tradition of giving every royal daughter the same name, I've found I have to keep their other titles and accomplishments in mind to keep them all straight."

Daskin sighed exaggeratedly. "Royalty," he said in amused mock-disapproval. "We're so weird."

Zelda smiled amusedly at her fellow heir's statement.

"Something about this still doesn't make sense to me," said Erike, looking over at Majacen. "You are sure what you told us is the whole story?"

"As much of it as I know," the wizard replied. "I know there are some things the Goddesses are keeping to themselves; they would not answer some of my questions during my training. They may yet reveal previously hidden things to us, when the time is right."

Lynaka nodded, glancing at her sister. "I agree with you, Erike," she said. "I am not sure what, but something about this doesn't seem right to me."

Zelda frowned at the Hero's words; something had been nagging at her in the later parts of the wizard's tale, as well, but it was frustratingly just out of reach. She knew there was a connection to be made, but she could not find it. Perhaps, she thought, when she had had time to process all this new information more fully, it would come to her.

"So," said Viserys, not quite impatiently, "now that we know what sort of threat we are facing, we must plan our next move." He looked over at Lynaka. "I believe you and your companions are headed for a vault meant to store various magical weapons?"

Lynaka nodded. "That would be the best idea, I think."

"It is," said Majacen, resting his hand on the table. "If the Bearer of Power is pursuing his own agenda, the items residing in the Heavenly Vault cannot be left for him to find." The wizard's expression darkened. "Since he has not seen fit to reveal himself to us, we must treat the Bearer of Power as a possible foe despite his rescue of me and willing surrender of the Ocarina of Time. Until we know for certain who he is and what his motives are, he cannot be trusted."

Viserys stood, looking around the table at those gathered. "I will need to consult with Queen Zelda and Lord Fenris," he said. "We must devise some way of defending against the Divine Host's magic." He looked at Majacen gravely. "What you have told me of their forces is troubling. If they are able to transport their army from place to place without marching, that makes all of our cities vulnerable to sudden attack."

Majacen nodded. "We have much to do and little time in which to do it. It would be best if we left immediately."

As the group got up, Viserys came over to his youngest son. "Go with them, Horys," he said. "You can keep our forces apprised of the Hero's activities." Zelda caught the small, nearly unnoticeable smile he gave his son then. "As well as your other reasons for wanting to stay with them."

Zelda smiled at her future father-in-law as she took Horys' hand, but her smile faded as Viserys looked over at her, his expression becoming serious again.

"Once your group leaves the Heavenly Vault," he said to her, "I would advise that you take the _Phoenix_ to Calatia. Your uncle is behaving in a way that… greatly concerns me."

"What is the Emperor doing?" Zelda asked, knowing her aggressive uncle had been stirring his forces in preparation to conquer another neighboring kingdom.

"Sources inside the palace indicate that the Emperor or one of this advisors may be dabbling in some form of sorcery," Viserys said gravely. "The agent who reported to me said that she sensed something very, very troubling going on deep beneath the central keep of the Emperor's palace. She described it as powerful magic, like nothing she'd ever felt before, and she found just being in the vicinity of the palace uncomfortable because of whatever was being done."

Zelda's eyes widened in realization. "You don't think my uncle could be in contact with a sorcerer from the Divine Host, do you?"

"That is unfortunately what I suspect," Viserys replied. "If he is, the situation must be dealt with."

The meaning behind Viserys' words was quite clear to Zelda; if her uncle was indeed in contact with the enemy, he would have to be removed. Depending on how much of the Emperor's court was involved, Zelda thought grimly, it was a distinct possibility that Hyrule and Calatia would shortly be at war despite their treaty of alliance. She knew her uncle; he was envious of her mother, and it was entirely possible the Emperor would kill her family and place one of Zelda's cousins on the throne to rule the Golden Kingdom as his puppet. It would not surprise her at all to learn he was plotting just such an action.

How was it possible that the Emperor of Calatia and her father Renjamin were brothers? They were nothing alike, Zelda thought, not for the first time.

"I will speak to my mother about this," Zelda told Viserys. "I agree that we need to find out what is going on inside the Emperor's court, at least."

"Good," Viserys replied. "Safe journey."

---

* * *

---

The Heavenly Vault was several hours' flight from Nimbus City, so Lynaka spent most of that time in the main compartment of the _Phoenix_ with Majacen and Val, trying to decipher Ganondorf's manuscript. Both Emissaries knew Old Hylian well, so all that remained was figuring out the phonetics of Ganondorf's code.

Along with them were the others who had been traveling with her from the start, plus Horys, who, it turned out, had helped build the _Phoenix_ and so knew Princess Zelda's airship better than any of the rest of them. He and Impa were in the cockpit with Zelda and Erike, who was interested in learning how to fly the small vessel.

Lynaka, Majacen, and Val sat around the small fold-down table in the main compartment, the manuscript and the notes spread out over the table's surface. Daskin lounged in one of the other seats, picking his fingernails with the tip of one of his knives and occasionally asking questions.

"Who do you think the Bearer of Power meant by 'the Great King of the past'?" Lynaka asked Majacen.

The wizard looked down at the manuscript, finishing the note he had been making as he translated another section. He tapped a sentence with the end of his pencil, turning it so that Lynaka could see.

"If he was going by this manuscript, he undoubtedly meant Raneses the Great," Majacen said. "Ganondorf consistently calls him 'the Great King' almost every time he mentions him. The Dark Lord obviously had a great deal of respect for his ancestor, even as he puzzled at the details of his life. In his research on the Blood Curse, Ganondorf repeatedly states in his notes that he cannot understand why Raneses the Great did not simply invade Hyrule at their moment of weakness when the sorcerer had killed the Royal Family. By the Hyrulian accounts of the incident, he states here, Raneses the Great refused to aid the sorcerer's invasion, and so the evil mage cursed him and his people in return."

Majacen looked back up at her. "Understandably, Ganondorf was puzzled as to why a king of the Gerudo would refuse to attack their historical enemies, but as you must remember, and indeed the Dark Lord himself admits, Raneses the Great had just finished unifying the Gerudo people, and they had had no real contact with Hyrule at this time. This was near the beginning of recorded history, so it is entirely possible the two peoples had seldom met before this."

"So what solution does Raneses the Great hold?" Lynaka asked, still puzzled.

"What kind of sorcerer was he?" Daskin asked from the other side of the compartment.

"Was who?" Lynaka said, turning to look at him.

"The guy who put the Blood Curse on your people in the first place," Daskin said, looking back at her. "What kind of sorcerer was he?"

Lynaka frowned in puzzlement at this, but she saw Majacen's eyes widen in realization. "What is it?" she asked him.

"It is entirely possible the sorcerer who invaded Hyrule eighteen-hundred years ago was an agent of the Dark One," Majacen said with a look at Val. "It would certainly serve his purposes."

Val nodded, tapping the book on the table with her finger. "And cursing an entire people out of petulance at a refusal of alliance is a bit suspect, even for a dark mage," she said. "If the Dark God directed him to do it, instead, that makes more sense to me."

Majacen gestured at Daskin. "I aided the boy's ancestor in foiling another attempt to assassinate the entire Royal Family three hundred years ago," he said. "I know for certain that assassin was a servant of the Dark One. More of the aggressors in Hyrule's history may have been agents of the Dark God than we know or even suspect."

Lynaka could only stare at the Emissaries for a moment as she thought about this. While listening to Majacen's story, some part of her had considered it just that; a story. But now, as she thought about what the two agents of the Goddesses had told her, the Dark God was made conclusively real. He was now just as much her enemy as anyone else's, for now she knew the malevolent deity was responsible for centuries of her people's struggle. How many times had the Gerudo nearly died out in the almost two millennia they had been under the Blood Curse?

The young warrior felt her hands clenching into fists. What sort of person, divine or mortal, could inflict something this complicated and sadistic upon an entire people for no more reason than they had refused to aid his purposes? It did not matter to her if there was more reason than that for what the Dark God's thrall had done; for this, she would throw her entire being into foiling him in any way she could.

Apparently unnoticing of her change in countenance, Daskin sat up, dropping his boots to the deck. "How well can you control the Ocarina of Time?" he asked Majacen. "Have you ever used it?"

"What do you mean?" Majacen asked curiously, looking over at the young man.

"Well, couldn't we use it to go back in time and stop the Blood Curse from ever happening?" Daskin asked. Lynaka's brows raised at this; she hadn't considered such a possibility before.

"Absolutely not!" Majacen said firmly. "That is an event which has had so much effect on history that it is impossible to predict all the changes that would occur if we were to do such a thing." He gestured at Lynaka. "It is quite possible that she would cease to exist! Remember, her father and almost all of her male ancestors were not Gerudo.

"If we were to remove the reason Gerudo must take mates outside their culture, countless women over the centuries would be erased from existence. They would never have existed in the first place, which means that by the time history moved to our present era, there would be no reason to go back in time and interfere, therefore we would not, and the timeline would revert to its original form anyway. The time loop would not be able to sustain itself, and we might end up causing more harm than good through unexpected changes."

Daskin held up a hand, his expression plainly revealing his somewhat overwhelmed confusion. "Whoa, that is _way_ too complicated to hear all at once." He shifted to a more comfortable position. "So, basically what you're saying is, time travel's out?"

"Not entirely," Val said thoughtfully. "If we merely went back to observe, and were careful not to change anything, we might be able to discern how the Blood Curse was originally cast. If we knew exactly what the sorcerer did, we might then be able to reverse it in the modern era."

Majacen's brow furrowed as he pondered this, flipping through the pages of Ganondorf's manuscript. Suddenly he stopped, laid the page he was on down flat, and his features tightened in suspicion and realization.

"You are not the first to have that idea, Valakyriena," the wizard said quietly. "Look."

Val looked at the paragraph he was pointing to, and her own eyes widened in amazement. She quickly seized a pencil and a piece of paper, and rapidly wrote down the translation with almost superhuman speed and precision in orderly, even handwriting. In only a minute or two, she had filled almost half the page.

"What?" Lynaka asked, leaning closer.

"A moment," Val said, still looking at what she had written. "Let me make sure I have this right."

Lynaka waited impatiently until the Emissary finally spoke again.

" 'I believe I have finally found the solution,' " Val quoted, reading from her notes. " 'It angers me somewhat, since I have found no other possible way of breaking this damnable curse. In a further cruel twist, I have learned by examining myself and others through my powers that one condition of the Blood Curse is apparently that the only way it can be broken is for children to be sired by a Gerudo male sired himself by a Gerudo male.

" 'This is the reason for the century between our births, so that there is no chance of this ever happening. Even if one of us somehow managed to live the full century to the next male's birth, no mortal man, no matter how robust, will be able to sire a child at one hundred years old. Even I could not, even if I tried to sustain myself with my present powers.

" 'From studying the currents of magic within the bodies of my people and the changes the curse inflicts upon us, it is my belief that it might be possible for me to dissolve the curse with the Golden Power of the Hylians. Failing that, they hold an object known as the Ocarina of Time, which, if I were able to take possession of it, would allow me to go back to the point where my people were cursed and stop it from ever happening in the first place. If only I could get my hands on the man that did this to my people, I would make him scream his life away for making his curse so complicated. What could the Great King have possibly done to provoke such a vicious retribution?' "

Majacen's expression was pensively thoughtful for a long moment. "I never knew this," he said finally. "Many of Ganondorf's actions make more sense to me now."

"How?" Lynaka asked, already forming her own guesses as to what he meant.

"I had long thought the Dark Lord invaded Hyrule merely to possess the Golden Power for its own sake," Majacen said. "It had been my opinion until now that Ganondorf was merely taken with his lust for power, and all his plans and actions stemmed from this. Now that I read this, I am unsure that was his entire motivation."

He gestured down at the page. "He sought the Ocarina of Time more than a century ago, and at the time I thought he wanted it for its powers, to use it to wreak havoc with the timeline to assert his own superiority or something of the kind, but now I see why he really wanted it."

"Despite his motivations," Val said, an odd expression on her face, "it's still a good thing he never managed to get his hands on it. He had good intentions, but if he'd done what he says here, he would have wreaked unimaginable damage."

Lynaka leaned back in her seat with her arms crossed, drumming her fingers on her bicep as she thought about this. For nearly her entire life, she and everyone she knew had cursed Ganondorf, he whom her people called the Accursed One, for the consequences his conquests had wrought upon her people. She had long thought his selfish lust for power surpassed only by his successor Raneses the Nameless One, but this new information forced her to look at the first Dark Lord in a different light.

Despite his reprehensible methods, it appeared Ganondorf genuinely had intended to make a better life for his people with all his scheming, at least at first. Lynaka wondered at what point he had gone wrong, where along the line Ganondorf had strayed from his original purpose to serve others and began serving only himself. Had he even truly done such a thing? From what her father had told her of his duel with the Dark Lord at the end of the Oocca War, Ganondorf had apparently still intended to use the Golden Power to benefit his native people even then.

Lynaka looked up as Daskin got up and walked over to the table, leaning against the wall next to Lynaka's seat. "So, what do we do?" he said, his voice uncharacteristically serious. "We have a lot of other things that need to be done, but I still say the Blood Curse is one of the most important matters right now."

He glanced down at Lynaka, and she nodded slightly, moving over on the bench behind the table to let him in. He sat down next to her, fingers tapping out an intricate rhythm on the table's surface.

"If the sorcerer who first cursed your people was ordered to do it by the Dark God," Daskin said to her, "then it's almost certain that no one but him would know how to undo it." He looked over at the Emissaries. "You probably already know about this, but according to my mother, the most powerful and complicated magic is almost like an extension of the mage who cast it, like they put a part of their mind into sustaining it, sort of."

Daskin looked back at Lynaka. "I'm going to skip the whole technical explanation and get right to the point." He gestured to her hand, whose marking was currently hidden by her gauntlet. "Obviously, the Triforce can't remove the Blood Curse, or at least Power can't by itself, or Ganondorf would have done it while he had it. He had Power for a long time, so I think if he could have broken the Blood Curse by force, he would have done it. So, if we're going to break your curse, we only have one other alternative."

His voice still more serious than Lynaka was used to, Daskin continued. "The Blood Curse is some incredibly complicated magic. _Insanely_ complicated would be more appropriate, really. So, the mage who cast it would have had to be extraordinarily powerful, probably getting a great deal of power and instruction from his god. The only way I can see to have any chance of breaking the Blood Curse magically is to go back in time to when it was actually cast and watch him do it." He paused for a moment. "And _that_," he continued, "would give us here in the present a very valuable insight into dark magic. If we're going to fight the Dark God's followers, we had better understand how they do what they do."

Majacen nodded resignedly. "You are right," he said wearily. "I can see no other viable alternative myself. The followers of the Dark God keep their ways secret and hidden, and while I do understand a great deal of their techniques already, I do not know them as well as I should, if I am to work to find a way to counter them."

Lynaka thought for a while about this. Going back in time was hardly believable, but it looked like it had to be done. There were unfortunately also a great number of other concerns pressing on them at the moment. The news about the Emperor of Calatia was disturbing, and Lynaka agreed that it had to be investigated as soon as possible. But, there was also the defense of Hyrule to see to, and she thought she would probably be needed there, as well, as the Hero.

"We're going to have to split up," Daskin said, almost as if he had sensed her thoughts. "There's too much our group needs to do, and we don't have enough time to get it all done before the Divine Host makes their next move. If this Warlock is as powerful as you say," he said to Majacen, "we're going to need every mage we can get to counter him and his sorcerers. This means me, my mother, and you at the very least. Now, granted, you and my mother working together are probably well more than a match for just about any other magic-user in the world, but we also have a Bearer of Power running around out there who hasn't seen fit to tell us what he's up to, also."

"So," said Lynaka, seeing where he was going with this, "we send Zelda, Horys, and Impa to Calatia to investigate her uncle while the rest of us split up to take care of everything else."

Majacen nodded. "I will be going with the group who goes back in time," he said. His expression became stern. "The timeline must _not_ suffer any major changes from our visit, so I will be making sure of that. You should come with me, as well, for I know you wish to," he said to Lynaka. He turned to Val. "You must help Lord Viserys and Queen Zelda prepare a defense of their lands against the Host. You know as much about them as I do, now, and you will be able to help them counter the sorcerers' trickery."

Val nodded solemnly. "I will do my best," she said. Then she offered a small smile. "With Grand Marshal Ashei, Lord Viserys, and Lord Fenris as well as the Queen all working on strategy, they may not even need my help," she joked.

Majacen nodded amusedly, his mouth quirked in a slight smile. "Perhaps," he said lightly. His smile faded. "These people are dangerous," he said gravely. "Despite our numerous assets, this will be a very hard fight. We may have great numbers of troops and the minds to plot their movements, but the Divine Host's mages have dreadful powers of sorcery, and that might be enough to give them the advantage." Lynaka was surprised to see a bit of a haunted look enter Majacen's eyes as he continued. "They have powers no mortal should be allowed to harness, and they _will_ use them against us." He turned a penetrating look on Lynaka. "Have you ever seen a person turned literally inside out?"

Revolted, Lynaka gasped. "They can do that?"

Majacen nodded gravely. "As well as other things. Your job will be to help lead our armies, and keep their morale high. When a man witnesses something like that happen to someone he knows, he will either flee in horror or become so angry he will recklessly hurl himself at those who committed the atrocity. Your job will be to harness that anger and keep our troops willing to keep up the fight. We cannot give an inch of ground in this war, for if we do, we will never get it back."

Zelda walked into the rear compartment just then, interrupting Lynaka's thoughts. "We have arrived at the volcano," she said to Majacen. "If you would please direct us to the Vault's entrance?"

"Certainly," the wizard said, getting up from behind the table to head for the cockpit.

Zelda must have seen Lynaka's troubled expression, because she took the wizard's place behind the table, looking over at her fellow Triforce Bearer concernedly. "What is it?" she asked.

Lynaka and Daskin quickly explained to the princess what they'd learned and the conclusions they'd come to afterwards, aided by Val.

When they were finished, Zelda nodded determinedly. "I agree," she said. "My uncle deserves my full attention right now. Hyrule cannot afford to fight three wars at once. We need Calatia's armies to help us, not invade us." Lynaka saw a steely determination in her friend's eyes, and a powerful sense of purpose. "I will_ not_ allow my uncle to make this situation even worse," she said gravely. "If that means removing him, I will do it."

Lynaka knew she would. Princess Zelda gave an impression of being friendly and gentle, but hidden beneath this exterior was an iron will, just like her mother. Underestimating her would be very foolish.

"We're landing," Impa called back from the cockpit.

As they prepared for landing, Zelda met Lynaka's eyes. "When we are finished here," she said, "I will be sure to tell everything we have learned to our parents; they will be doing most of the fighting in this first stage, and they will need all the information they can."

Lynaka nodded in agreement. "They have more experience in all these areas," she said. "They will be able to come up with solutions we might not see."

"Well, that's a given," Daskin said wryly. "As much as I hate to admit it, I _don't_ know everything." He put a hand on Lynaka's shoulder in mock-comfort. "Yes, you're shocked, I know."

Lynaka laughed despite herself. How did he know just how to break the tension when they needed it most?

"You know," Daskin said, one corner of his mouth quirking in yet another irreverent smirk, "my life was a lot less complicated before I took up with you girls. If you'd told me three weeks ago this was where I'd be today, I probably would have laughed at you."

"I don't think any of us knew what awaited us," said Zelda. "It still seems strange to me that not yet a month has passed since we met."

"It hasn't even been that long?" Lynaka said in surprise.

Again, Daskin grinned. "It's gonna feel a lot longer, ladies; we're going to be busier than we ever wanted to be for longer than we'd all like."

---

* * *

---

Erike looked up at the towering volcano as they emerged from the _Phoenix_, looking up at its smoldering cone what seemed like miles above them. The southern Mountain of Fire, as described by Link Fenris I in the message he'd left for them in the temple, stood by itself in the middle of the jungle like a tremendous tower of stone, smoke occasionally seeping from its summit. Unlike Death Mountain to the north, this volcano was not part of a larger range, though it did look almost identical to the Gorons' mountain in other ways.

Majacen led the way over to a portion of the rocky eastern slope that looked identical to the rest of the mountain, pocked and pitted, with long-cooled rivulets of rock flowing down like a frozen river. The ground was hard and black beneath their feet, and nothing grew for dozens of yards all around.

The wizard frowned. "An eruption must have buried the entrance," he said, a mild tinge of annoyance in his voice. "It's to be expected, I suppose. I chose this place for a number of reasons, and that was one of them." He turned back to the others. "Please give me a few moments to locate the entrance."

Erike's sister and Daskin made full use of the delay to bring the rest of the group up on what they had decided as quickly as they could. Once they were finished, Erike looked over at her sister. "I want to go with you," she said, "but it might be best if I didn't."

Lynaka looked over at her curiously. "Why?"

"It would be best for as few people as possible to go back in time," Erike said, having thought about this through most of the explanation. "The fewer of us there are intruding upon the past, the lower the chances that we might accidentally change something important."

Val nodded. "That makes sense to me. So, what do you want to do instead?"

"I will go with you," Erike replied, pushing her long brown braid back over her shoulder. "I can work with my mother and father and the rest of the Gerudo to help prepare Hyrule's defenses."

Erike then turned to Daskin, having considered another possibility during the explanation. "I also think you and your mother should go with Lynaka and Majacen."

"Oh?" he said, his brows rising in interest. "Why's that?"

"We have very few magic-users," Erike explained. "Your mother and Majacen are the two most powerful. If they both observe how the Blood Curse is structured as it is cast, they may be able to work together to undo it." She gestured to Daskin. "If you are there, as well, that only increases our chances."

Daskin smiled appreciatively. "I hadn't thought of that."

Lynaka also nodded approvingly. "That's quick thinking," she said.

Erike inclined her head in acknowledgment. "Thank you," she replied.

"So," said Horys, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword, "we go immediately after we finish here?"

"Right," Zelda replied, looking over at her fiancé. "You and I, along with Impa, will take the _Phoenix_ to Calatia to investigate my uncle. Daskin or his mother can send Erike and Val to Hyrule once she arrives, and he and Midna will accompany Lynaka and Majacen first back through time to observe the Blood Curse, then to rejoin the rest of us with their findings."

"Hmm, I'd better let my mother know she's coming along, eh?" Daskin said with a grin. "She's not terribly fond of surprises." He gestured with one hand back at where Majacen was frowning at a section of the slope. "I'll make a portal so she can get here. We might also need to come back here in a hurry later." With that, he left.

To her chagrin, Erike jumped slightly at a commanding shout from Majacen and a loud cracking of rock as he found the entrance to the Heavenly Vault. She turned to see the wizard with a smile on his face beneath his beard, pieces of rock still falling down around him from where he had blasted them with his powers.

"I hadn't been down this way in two hundred years," he said as he walked over to them, the smoke from the detonation slowly clearing behind him. "It took me a bit to remember the exact location."

"Why did you need the exact location?" Horys asked curiously. "Couldn't you just…" he waved his hand in a vague gesture.

"Might I remind you that this mountain is filled with molten rock?" Majacen said, a bit of a twinkle in his eyes. "It would be rather careless of me to just go blasting holes wherever I _thought_ the tunnel inside would be, now wouldn't it?"

Horys' eyes widened. "I see," he said, glancing over at the mountain.

Majacen looked around at the group. "There are a number of highly potent items inside this vault," he said warningly. "Many of them were forged by gods for use by gods in the war against the Dark One, so do not just pick something up because it looks interesting." He said the last part with a pointed look at Daskin, who had just walked up to rejoin them.

Daskin adopted an exaggeratedly wounded look. "Me, irresponsible? I'm insulted you would insinuate something so…" he paused, quirking his lips in a smirk, "accurate." He gave the wizard a puzzled look. "You say that like you know from personal experience, but I don't remember seeing you since I was little."

"We met a few times in our respective wanderings over the last few years," Majacen replied, his voice tinged with amusement. "I am not surprised you do not remember our encounters, as you spent the majority of them rather severely inebriated."

Daskin shrugged acceptingly. "Sounds about right." He winked at Lynaka, and she rolled her eyes.

Majacen turned and led the way inside. Erike, walking behind her sister and Daskin, caught Lynaka's teasing comment.

"Severely inebriated, was it?"

Daskin shrugged. "One tends to frequent taverns when your chosen profession is 'wandering rogue'," he said with a grin. "I became famous in Athaca for out-drinking five sailors in one night. The locals were so astonished that I had to do it three more times to convince them the stories were true."

"How'd you do that?" Horys asked curiously, as they entered a long stone hall, devoid of decoration.

"Twili have an extremely high tolerance for alcohol," Daskin replied. "The amount it takes to get me 'severely inebriated' would permanently pickle your brain." He smiled mischievously. "But don't take my word for it. I'd be happy to prove it to you sometime."

Horys started to say something, but was silenced by a warning look from Zelda. "Er, perhaps not," he said with a glance at his fiancée, who was clearly not amused by the challenge.

Erike smirked. She traded an amused glance with her sister, who was thinking the same thing, as evidenced by what she said next.

"You might want to challenge my father and his friend Raskys sometime," Lynaka said, smiling. "They'd be happy to have someone to compete with besides each other."

Majacen was waiting by the immense stone door at the end of the hall. The stone around bore tool marks, Erike saw, which meant that it had been carved and not formed magically by the wizard as she had assumed. If she remembered the stories correctly, it was very likely the same Goron who had forged her father's greatsword had also built this vault.

"I have altered the seal temporarily to allow you all through," he said. "Please, ask me before touching anything. There are several items within this vault that must never be handled carelessly."

Lynaka gave Daskin a teasing look, and he adopted an exaggeratedly innocent expression, feigning puzzlement.

Inside, the Heavenly Vault was a massive hollow chamber, converted from a long-cooled magma tube. Majacen lit a torch mounted in a wall bracket by the entrance, and in response, dozens of other torches around the chamber flared to life in synchronization, as if he had lit them all at once.

In the flickering orange light, Erike saw places where the walls had been fortified and other places where additional passages had been carved. In a number of niches along the hall rested a wide variety of weapons, ranging from knives and swords to axes, spears, and other, more exotic armaments. Other objects, their functions much less obvious, rested on more of the stone shelves, each bearing a small metal plaque.

"I have a few thoughts about which of these items may prove most useful," Majacen said as he walked along the chamber, looking into the niches. "Link, Dar, and I found quite a few things you may need, especially…" He trailed off, frowning at the shelves as he thought. "Ah!" he exclaimed finally, reaching for a pair of intricately engraved silver bracelets.

The wizard walked over to Zelda and held the bracelets out. "These," he said, handing them to her, "are amplifiers. They magnify the magic powers of the wearer, based on how hard you are concentrating." He chuckled shortly. "Link once discharged the Staff of Lightning wearing these and blew a hole all the way through a mountain. Dar and I spent nearly three hours trying to find where he landed."

Zelda turned the bracelets over in her hands, looking at the looping, angled glyphs engraved into the brightly polished silver. "Thank you," she said, looking up at Majacen. "Do you know where they came from?"

The wizard drew his fingers through his beard. "We took them from a sorcerer who tried to kill us. Where _he_ got them, I don't know. I have never seen glyphs like that anywhere else in my journeys."

Impa picked up a bluish-colored armband from a nearby shelf and turned it over. "This has magic within it," she said. "But it's very strange."

"We found that in a temple about a hundred miles from here," Majacen said. "It lets you teleport within visible distance." He laughed again, looking down at the armband. "We had quite a time trying to get this away from the temple's guardian. Link finally started randomly firing out lightning bolts after a while, trying to hit the monster by being as unpredictable as it was."

Impa turned the armband over in her hands, an appreciative smile quirking the corners of her mouth as she concentrated on it. "I'm keeping this one," she said. Promptly, she vanished and reappeared standing on the other end of the chamber. Then she vanished again.

Daskin jumped and let out a startled shout when she reappeared only inches in front of him. From the Sheikah warrior's smirk, it was quite obvious that this had been her intention.

"Great," Daskin growled. "Give the sneaky one something she can be even worse with."

Nearby, Horys was examining a pair of boots, though, Erike noted, he was not touching them. As she drew closer and read the label, she understood why. What could 'Blast Boots' mean?

Majacen muttered to himself as he surveyed the surrounding shelves. "Let's see, invisibility cloak, magnetic shoes, power bracelets, revealer glasses…"

"What sort of glasses?" Daskin asked, turning his head at the last item.

Majacen held up a pair of thick-framed glasses, the lenses a light gray color. "Revealer glasses," he repeated. "They let you see through things."

"What sort of things?" Daskin asked, taking a step closer. He was grinning, and Erike didn't like the way he was looking around at the group as he did so.

Erike smirked to herself as Majacen raised an eyebrow and pulled the glasses back out of reach before Daskin could grab them. "I don't think I ought to let you have these," he said, eyes narrowing slightly in disapproval. He slipped the glasses into a pocket of his robe.

Daskin grinned obnoxiously.

"Be careful with those," Majacen said to Horys, who was leaning closer to inspect the boots he had been examining. "Those make things explode when you kick them."

"Whoa, exploding shoes?" Daskin said eagerly, turning to look. "You've gotta let me have them!"

"What is it with men and explosions?" Lynaka asked Zelda. The princess shrugged silently in reply, a slight smile quirking her lips.

---

* * *

Author's Note: Once again, apologies for the long delay. There were a number of factors, including a necessary revising of my outline to remove a potential plot-hole. Acknowledgments for this chapter go to my beta readers Desteni and Seldavia for each pointing out things that needed fixing; both saved me some potential embarrassment down the line. Thanks goes also to Silverwolf05, who suggested several of the items in the Heavenly Vault, more of which will be seen in the next chapter. She has also posted cover art for '_The Fourth Piece_', which you can find in the 'Story-Related' folder of my Favorites on DeviantArt. Till next time, thanks for reading!


	11. Preparations and Partings

Eleven

The group's exploration of the Heavenly Vault continued for several more minutes, but was interrupted as someone knocked on the thick metal door to the inner vault. Val went off to see who it was, and returned with Midna, who strode into the vault ahead of the Emissary, the intricate designs on her long black robe glowing mutedly in the torchlight as she looked around.

"There sure is an awful lot of magical junk lying around this continent," she said, smiling teasingly at Majacen. "I swear Link and I found enough to fill our own vault."

"This is just the first room," Majacen said, a mischievous twinkle in his dark green eyes. "How are you?" he asked.

"Good," Midna replied. "Link and Zelda are all worked up about another army that might have eyes on Hyrule, so they're working with Ashei and Viserys to secure the borders." Midna frowned. "Not that it'll do much good against a teleporting army, but it gives them something to do."

She looked over at Daskin, who was attempting to persuade Horys to let him try on the Blast Boots. "So what did you need me down here in such a hurry for, anyway?" she asked.

Horys was quite adamant in his opinion that it wasn't a good idea to let Daskin have exploding shoes. He hadn't even known the guy two days and already the girls had turned Zelda's fiancé against him, Daskin thought. Figured. He shrugged it off and smiled as he turned back to his mother.

"I didn't want to say over the Communication Stone in case somebody was listening," Daskin said, giving up.

Midna smiled wryly. "That's all we need. If they can listen to our communications, we're in even more trouble."

Daskin and the others explained their plan to his mother, who had a thoughtful expression through most of the explanation and frequently asked questions.

"Well, your father's never taken me through time yet," she said with a grin at Daskin once they were finished. "Unless you count one temple we went to, and I'm still not quite sure about that one."

"What, the one in the Sacred Grove?" he asked.

"That's it," she replied. "Anyway, I like your plan. I definitely need a better look at some of this dark magic the Divine Host is using if I'm going to fight them." She looked over at Lynaka and Erike, her expression going serious. "And it's very important to get rid of the Curse as soon as we can."

"Any more weapons we might need?" Lynaka asked Majacen.

"You will not be needing any on our journey back through time," Majacen said, "but I do have something in mind for you." He moved off to the far end of the hall, gathered up a few items, and returned with two pairs of wristbands and a belt made from some material similar to leather but with a different texture.

"These are another set of amplifiers," he said, handing the dark gray metal wristbands to Daskin. "They are not as potent as the ones I gave to Princess Zelda, since these are copies I made of those in order to understand them better. I was unable to exactly duplicate the effect, but they will work well enough."

He handed another pair, made from a coppery-colored metal, to Lynaka. The color was a little more red than most copper Daskin had seen, making him think it was a different metal. He was unsure of what it could be, though.

"These grant you the ability to create and control fire," Majacen said as he handed the bracelets to her. "I warn you, though: they take quite a bit of practice to control effectively. I would advise you to exercise caution, for there is a strong possibility of accidentally setting yourself on fire until you learn to control them properly."

Lynaka gave the bracelets a very concerned look.

"This is an interesting item," he said as he handed the belt to Erike. "It amplifies momentum, I believe. If you concentrate while wearing this, you will move faster. If you keep moving, you will keep accelerating, but if you stop moving, you will slow down. Link had an absolutely horrible time with the creature who had this. It was very nearly able to outrun his lightning bolts, and he was getting very frustrated before he finally figured out the secret."

"I would be very interested to hear more about your travels sometime," Erike said as she accepted the belt. "You must have had many interesting adventures over the centuries."

"Quite a few, yes," Majacen replied, smiling. He looked around at the gathered group. "I think it is time we all got on our way. My group has many preparations to make, and I would like to start them as soon as possible."

With that, the group said their farewells, under the understanding that they would be rejoining each other in perhaps a month or so. Daskin thought the time-travel group would be gone for much longer than that, but they would be returning to the present at the same moment they had left it, so as far as the others were concerned, they would be right behind them on the way out of here.

He was excited about that; very few individuals could boast that they had traveled time at all, much less gone back to one of the most momentous periods in history. The time they were going to was only a couple centuries after civilization had gotten organized enough to start keeping detailed histories. Even so, there was not much known about that time period. A chance to see history as it actually had been, instead of how the chroniclers had slanted it, was just too good to pass up. He would have asked to go along even if he _didn't_ have a good reason.

Erike gave her sister a warrior's salute, gripping forearms with her as she nodded solemnly. "I envy you, what you will see," she said. "Make sure to remember it well, so you can describe it to me when we meet again."

Lynaka grinned. "I will." She said something else in Gerudo that Daskin didn't understand, since he didn't speak that language, and this made him think of something, which he filed away to ask once the others had left.

Zelda, Horys, and Impa went outside to the _Phoenix_ to set off for Calatia, and Erike and Val went with Midna, who was going back to Hyrule with them to explain to Daskin's father and the Queen what they were planning.

Daskin stood outside the entrance to the Heavenly Vault and watched the _Phoenix_ sail off into the distance, wondering what all would happen, both to him and to the others, before he saw them again.

---

* * *

---

Much to her embarrassment, Princess Zelda nearly set the _Phoenix_ on fire a few hours into their flight to Calatia.

She had been laboring over Ganondorf's manuscript, which she had taken with her while Lynaka and the others went back through time. She had been thinking about that odd situation, wondering if that group was back yet, which they probably were, in this time; they had likely returned from their journey almost immediately after she had left, though they would have experienced weeks or possibly even months that she would not have.

Thinking about the intricacies of time travel gave Zelda a headache; no wonder Majacen was so adamant that it be done as little as possible.

With that on her mind, Zelda had absently gestured at one of the small lanterns above the table at which she was working to make more light, sending out a trickle of her will to heat up the air around the wick and so ignite it.

However, a thick gout of flame erupted from the wick instead, startling her. Zelda managed to cut off the flame almost immediately, but her surprised shout attracted Impa's attention.

"What is it, my lady?" the bodyguard asked, leaning out of the cockpit to look in at her. Her eyes flicked to the scorch mark on the ceiling above the lantern, then returned to Zelda with a curious expression.

Even as Zelda felt an embarrassed flush start to creep over her face, she stared at her hand. "I'm not quite sure," she replied.

Then she remembered the amplifier bracelets she was wearing, glinting silver on her wrists. As she thought about this, Zelda slowly felt a building sense of excitement. If such an infinitesimal exertion of her abilities had been magnified that much, just what was possible with these artifacts?

Now it made even more sense why Majacen sought to lock away the items he collected; if these were in the hands of a wicked person, like the sorcerer he said he and the Hero of Lightning had taken them from, it was quite disturbing to think about the potential destruction these bracelets were capable of generating.

There were so many things like that in her country and the surrounding areas, Zelda mused. She had often wondered where they had all come from and why they were crafted. Now, she thought, she had a partial answer; many of the weapons and other items found and wielded by the Heroes over the years came from the War Between the Gods, the tremendous struggle that had embroiled all of creation so many thousands of years ago.

It hadn't ended, really. Based on what Majacen had told them, the gods were still at war with one another, but now they were just using more subtle means. Was that what all of history had been, an endless game of chess between the Dark God and the Golden Goddesses? How far had creation been altered from what the Goddesses had intended? Zelda thought about this, wondering what life would be like for all the various sentient races right now if they had never been interfered with by the Dark One.

She was only dimly aware of Impa, most likely sensing that she was deep in thought, silently returning to the cockpit to aid Horys with navigation.

And now, Zelda thought, she was caught up in the divine chess game herself, as her mother had been, along with countless others of her ancestors stretching back to the beginning of civilization. Was this why Hyrule rarely had more than a few years of peace at a time? Was the Dark One eternally lurking in the shadows, constantly harassing the chosen land of his mother and aunts?

Because she was alone, Zelda allowed herself a break in her royal composure. Placing one hand over her eyes, her fingertips on her temples, Zelda sighed deeply, feeling overwhelmed. What could she and her friends, as mortals, possibly do against an evil deity, many orders of magnitude more powerful than she could even dream of becoming herself?

She looked down at the silver bracelets on her wrists. Just a few moments ago, she had been excited by all the power they had offered her. Now she knew just how insignificant that power was.

Majacen and Val thought the present events were a sign that the Dark God was beginning his endgame, his final offensive against the Golden Goddesses and all their followers. As Triforce Bearers, she and Lynaka were sure to be key players in this, pieces moved around the most on the divine chessboard. That meant the Dark God and his evil followers would almost certainly be trying as hard as they could to get rid of them.

And again, what of the Bearer of Power? Whose side was he on? Who was he? Did he serve the Dark One, the Goddesses, or only himself?

Zelda looked up as she sensed Horys walking back into the main compartment. His expression was concerned, and as he sat down next to her, he slipped a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"What is it?" he asked gently.

Zelda sighed as she leaned over, putting her head on his shoulder. "I don't know what to do," she said quietly.

He pulled her closer, his hand gently squeezing her shoulder in reassurance. "That's all right," he said. "You don't have to figure everything out all at once."

"I feel…" Zelda paused, not quite able to put her feelings into words for a moment. "I feel like my mother would be better suited to dealing with this," she said finally. "She has much more experience than I do. When she was my age, she was already ruling a country by herself and had fought two wars against some of the most evil men the world has ever known." She held up her right hand, looking at the Triforce marking upon the back. "Why did this go to me instead of back to her?"

Horys reached over and took her hand, gently rubbing his thumb over the marking. "Because whoever gave this to you decided that _you_ were better suited to this, not her." She shifted her head to look up at him, and he looked back at her, smiling slightly. "You are not your mother," he went on. "There's something special about you that makes _you_ the right person to hold Wisdom right now. You just have to find out what that is."

Zelda smiled to herself as she settled deeper against him, putting her arm around his back. "I love you," she said.

Horys squeezed her shoulder. "I love you, too," he replied. "We'll get through this."

"Yes," Zelda said with reemerging determination, "we will."

---

* * *

---

Erike stood towards the back of the room, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched and listened while Hyrule's leaders planned its defense.

She was in a hall at Hyrule Castle, a conference room near the top of the towering central keep. Sunlight streamed in through the windows, falling on the long oak table and the huge map spread over it. Queen Zelda, Grand Marshal Ashei, Prime Minister Auru, Lord Fenris, and Val the Emissary stood around the table, looking down at the map.

"They're unlikely to come at us from the east," Grand Marshal Ashei was saying, one hand on her sword as she leaned over the table to put a finger on the Eldin Province on the map. "I know _I_ wouldn't want to try and march an army through the Death Mountain range. Besides that, the Gorons might have a few things to say about armies stomping through their home, yeah?"

"The west is out, too," Lord Fenris said, tapping the area above the Gerudo Desert. "No army in the world could make it through the Snowpeak Mountains without heavy casualties; both the weather and the terrain are too severe. The same goes for the Gerudo Desert."

"Besides that," Erike spoke up from where she stood by the wall, "my people would never allow a hostile army through our lands." She looked up at the rest of the people around the table as they looked back at her. "We have not been successfully invaded in centuries. If the Divine Host tried to cross our desert, a few of them might make it to the border, but not many."

"You cannot think of the Divine Host like a conventional army," Val warned, looking around at the others. "They are commanded by legions of sorcerers deeply immersed in the dark powers. Beyond their own offensive capabilities, the Dark One's mages can augment their troops in a number of ways. Some of them have learned to reconstitute defeated soldiers, effectively making their numbers limitless. Beyond that, they can shield their troops, or curse our own." She walked forward and slapped her hand down on the map. "Borders mean nothing to these people! They can teleport large numbers over vast distances. They could put ten thousand soldiers outside this city in an instant, and there would be nothing we could do to stop them!"

"What do you recommend, then?" Prime Minister Auru inquired, looking across the table at her from where he stood next to Queen Zelda.

"Ganondorf cast a shield around this castle when he occupied it during his last invasion, correct?" Val said, looking over at the Queen.

Hyrule's monarch nodded. "He did. It could not be penetrated by any means the Hero or Midna were able to think of until Midna had all of the Fused Shadows under her control."

Lord Fenris nodded in agreement. "Not even the Master Sword could break that barrier. Ganondorf erected a number of other shields like it when we fought him then, and Raneses knew how to do it, as well." He looked over at Val. "Why? Do you think we could replicate that somehow?"

She nodded. "I think perhaps if we were able to erect a similar barrier over the castle or even the entire town itself, we might be able to keep the Divine Host out."

Auru straightened, his long robes swishing slightly with the movement. "That is true," he said cautiously, "but we cannot leave it up merely against the possibility of invasion. Commerce will be disrupted by this war already; completely cutting off the capital from the rest of the country could be disastrous for the economy. It might take us years to recover."

Ashei smoothed a wrinkle out of her uniform as she looked down at the map. "On that thought," she said, "where are we going to put our troops? We can't just camp a division outside each gate of the capital and wait for a possible attack, yeah?"

"Correct," said the Queen. "We must of course build up our fortifications and prepare for a siege, but with the Host's ability to transport their troops wherever they wish, massing troops in any one location leaves us open to attack anywhere we do not have a large concentration of soldiers."

"Besides that, it's going to take the main army several weeks to get all the way back up here from the Far South," said Link. He tugged on the lower edge of his tunic, the green Hyrule Army uniform he often wore when he wasn't wearing his armor. "Viserys is using his airships to move his own troops around right now, and he can only spare a few for our use. He has a lot more territory to defend, remember."

"The jungle is a problem," Ashei agreed. "He can't possibly patrol all that, even from the air. They could hide ten armies in those jungles, and slip all of them past his cities and over our southern border without once giving themselves away."

"There's nothing we can do about that except burn the jungle down," said Link, shaking his head.

"We just might have to," Ashei said darkly.

"I would prefer a less drastic measure," said the Queen, looking over at the commanders of her army. "We cannot allow ourselves to be forced into overreaction in an attempt to counter our enemy's advantages."

At a knock on the door, they looked up, and the Queen gestured to one of the soldiers guarding the door, who turned to open it. Erike's parents walked in, their expressions grim. Arnak did not smile as he looked over at his daughter, but his expression did soften noticeably, especially around his eyes.

Erike's mother walked right over to the table after a brief glance at her daughter, nodding slightly in acknowledgment. Erike noticed that her mother wore the jeweled scimitar she and her sister had retrieved from the Nameless One's fortress, and felt a sense of pride at knowing the priceless weapon was back where it belonged.

"Matriarch," the Queen greeted Erike's mother. "I am glad you could join us."

"Your Majesty," Nabooru replied. "My borders are secure. No army that tries to enter our desert will leave it." She touched the ornate weapon at her side for emphasis.

"I thank you," said the Queen. "Should you need assistance, Hyrule will be just as quick to send it."

Nabooru inclined her head in thanks. "What are our options?" she asked, looking around the table. "What can we do against this dark army?"

"We have not yet come up with a plausible defense against the Host's advantages," Auru replied. "But we are still early in our strategy sessions."

"What we need are mages," said Lord Fenris. "Hyrule has very few magic-users, and we need magic against magic, not steel."

"_Do you suppose those two witches are still alive?_" Arnak asked his wife in Gerudo.

Nabooru scowled. "_It is possible,_" she replied in the same language. "_But would we really want their help, even if we could trust them?_"

"Care to bring those of us who don't speak Gerudo into this?" Ashei asked, her tone dryly amused.

"There are… two witches that once lived among my people," Nabooru said, clearly not liking this idea. "Their names are Koume and Kotake, and they had managed to live over four hundred years through the use of their powers. They would be over five hundred by now."

"Ganondorf's adoptive mothers?" Link said incredulously. "You want to bring the two of them into this?"

"I do _not_ want to," Nabooru replied heatedly. "But we may have to. They were very powerful, and as my husband said, they may still be alive."

"Didn't the Hero of Time kill them?" asked Ashei.

"I do not believe so," Nabooru replied. "I think they lived, though there has been no sign of them since Ganondorf's defeat."

"Did Majacen ever tell you anything about them?" Link asked Val.

She shrugged. "He's mentioned them once or twice; he met them a few times over the centuries," she said. "They're about the same age he is."

"I do not like this idea any more than you, Matriarch," said Queen Zelda. "But, as Lord Fenris said, we need to recruit as many mages as we can. It is worth investigation."

"I'm starting to regret I said that," Link muttered. "If I'd have known this was where it was going to go, I'd have kept my mouth shut."

Arnak smiled wryly beneath his gray-streaked dark beard. "The fault lies more with me, Lord Fenris," he said, a slight trace of amusement in his deep voice. "Perhaps as penance, I will volunteer to find the witches myself."

Link laughed shortly at Arnak's words. "Oh, good," he said with the same wry amusement. "I thought they were going to ask _me_ to do it."

"I'll go with you, Father," Erike said, looking over at her parents. "You may need my help."

"Indeed I may," Arnak agreed. "I will be glad to have you along."

"Do you want me to come, as well?" Val asked. "While my skills do not lie in the same disciplines as Majacen, I do know some magic. I may be useful if the witches decide to attack you without listening."

"That is a distinct possibility," Arnak said thoughtfully. "There is no telling what sort of reception we will get if they are in fact still alive."

"Perhaps you ought to take some Sheikah along, as well," Link suggested.

"That may not be the best idea," said Nabooru. "Our people do not have a… pleasant history with the Sheikah."

"True," Val agreed. "My people did kill quite a few of you in the past." She looked over at the others in explanation. "The Sheikah were assigned to curb Gerudo raids on Hylian merchants moving through the desert to Athaca and the coast cities a few hundred years ago. Their solution was a bit… extreme."

"They killed all the raiders they could find and put their heads on spears along the road as a warning," Erike said bluntly. "Most Gerudo have disliked the Sheikah even more than the Hylians since then."

"We have been doing our best to put our prejudices aside since the treaty Your Majesty and my predecessor worked out," Nabooru said to Queen Zelda. "But I am certain other factions of my people would not be so forgiving."

"A small group is best," said Arnak. "My daughter and I, along with a few warriors and the Emissary, should be fine."

"We should get started on the preparations, then," Val said, looking over at him. "I will tell Your Majesty and your advisors as much as I can about the Divine Host before I leave."

Arnak nodded slightly. "Whenever you are ready."

---

* * *

---

Once the others were gone, Daskin, Lynaka and Majacen began the preparations to journey back in time. The first step, Majacen explained, was making them all look as much like Gerudo of the time as possible. At the time of Raneses the Great, the Gerudo had had just as many men as anyone else, so he and Daskin would not be considered unusual.

The three of them further worked out their backstory, what they would tell to the Gerudo they encountered there. Majacen would be Lynaka's grandfather, they decided, and Midna would be his daughter, with her son Daskin as Lynaka's cousin. The four of them were traveling to join with Raneses the Great as a show of fealty at his unification of the Gerudo. Lynaka and Daskin both would ask to be the Great King's bodyguards, since they thought that would be the best way to stay near Raneses the Great and observe while remaining relatively unobtrusive. Midna and Majacen would apply for similar positions in the royal household.

Daskin volunteered to construct the disguises for the three non-Gerudo members of the group, since he knew how to cast a disguise enchantment, anyway. As he and Majacen discovered when they experimented with various ways of disguising themselves, he was better with details, though Majacen was better at making the disguises unnoticeable by magical senses. They ended up collaborating, experimenting with magical techniques until the wizard pronounced the disguises satisfactory.

After adjourning to one of the smaller rooms off the main vault to effect his transformation, Daskin examined his handiwork. Besides darkening his skin and changing his hair to the typical bright red, he had also subtly altered his facial features so that, while he was still recognizably himself, he could also easily pass for a Gerudo. When he came out, he was rewarded with an impressed look from Lynaka.

"Very nice," she said. "You're a little skinnier than a real Gerudo man would be, but if I didn't know you already, I'd believe it."

"What do you mean, skinny?" Daskin asked half-jokingly.

"Gerudo men tend to be very muscular," Lynaka replied teasingly. "You are decidedly _not._" She pretended to give him a critical glance. "You're going to have to work on that if you're going to be a bodyguard for a king."

"Hey, I have plenty of muscles," Daskin replied in mock-injury. "Just because my arm isn't thicker around than your leg…"

Lynaka chuckled, turning as Majacen returned to the main hall. Daskin only recognized him because of the clothes he was wearing, because the old wizard didn't look a thing like himself just then. His hair and beard were now white-streaked red, but both were now much shorter. As Lynaka had explained, Gerudo men rarely wore their hair long, and it might be seen as unusual. The wizard's skin was the proper dark tan color now, and he had changed his eyes to a much brighter green, nearly the same shade as Erike's.

Now that he noticed it, Daskin realized what was different about Lynaka; her eyes were now bright green instead of the dark brown he was used to. While common for humans and Hylians, dark brown was an unusual shade for Gerudo, who usually had either bright green, blue, or amber-colored eyes, with the occasional red, like Sheikah.

"I am unfortunately unsure of the proper style of clothing," Majacen said to Lynaka. "I do not remember a description or pictures of Gerudo clothing from the period."

"Just something practical for desert living ought to do for when we first get there," Lynaka replied. "If we're supposed to be from one of the more remote tribes, we wouldn't have anything too fancy anyway." She gestured to her own clothes, which were the ones Daskin had first seen her in instead of the new Hero's clothes she'd had when they came here. "As long as our designs are the same, it won't much matter. I'll help you with the patterns."

Midna came back shortly afterward, and Daskin and Majacen helped her with changing her skin and hair color. Once they were finished, Daskin was a bit bemused; his mother looked so different that he hardly recognized her. With dark tan skin instead of her normal bluish-gray, and bright blue eyes the same shade as Daskin's instead of the ruby he was used to, she looked like a completely different person.

When they were done, Midna looked in a mirror and grinned at Daskin. "What do you say I stay like this when we get back and see how long it takes your father to recognize me?" she said.

"It'll take him a while," Daskin agreed, laughing.

Next, Midna and Majacen fashioned clothing and weapons based on Lynaka's direction, and they fitted and aged them, making them look well-used by a hard desert life. When they were finished and had changed, they gathered up all of their other clothing and equipment to be stored in the vault.

"Aside from the Ocarina of Time, which I will keep hidden, we must take nothing which can give us away," Majacen explained. "We want to be accepted as quickly as possible, and avoid being seen as unusual as much as we can."

He and Daskin were now dressed in loose sand-colored pants and leather boots, with vests of the same color, pattered in angular Gerudo designs, and worn leather scimitar belts. Lynaka and Midna both wore the usual wide, angularly patterned bands of cloth over their chests, along with pants of similar style to the men's. In addition, Midna had worked her now bright red hair into a similar braid to Lynaka's, and she, Daskin, and Majacen also wore appropriate diadems on their foreheads.

"All right, now that I look the part, there's a bit of a setback we need to worry about," Daskin said, looking around at the others. "I don't speak Gerudo, much less Gerudo from eighteen-hundred years ago, and neither does my mother. What are we going to do about that?"

Lynaka frowned thoughtfully. "Do you speak any other languages besides Hylian?"

Midna nodded. "We both know some trade languages we learned along with Link during the early part of the campaigns in the Far South." She smirked at her son. "And of course Twili, but that'll _really_ make us seem unusual."

Daskin chuckled at this, thinking of the intricate tonal nuances of his native language.

"You definitely shouldn't speak Hylian right at first," Lynaka said. "We might not even encounter any Hylians at all when we're there, and they'll be speaking Old Hylian, which only Majacen knows."

The wizard nodded. "I shall translate in that situation."

After a bit more discussion, it turned out that Lynaka spoke one of the same trade languages Daskin and Midna did, Larunosi, so they settled on it as the language to speak amongst themselves. In order to keep practice, they shifted to Larunosi immediately. Majacen knew it, of course; he knew almost every language spoken on Hyrule's continent.

"Since we're supposed to be from a tribe on the southern edge of the desert," said Lynaka, "I suppose we can pass Larunosi off as a different dialect until you learn Ancient Gerudo. I should have a better time of it, so Majacen and I will be able to translate until you understand enough to get by on your own."

"It's amazing how many languages you speak," Midna remarked to the wizard.

He shrugged. "When one travels as much as I do, it's only prudent to speak as many languages as possible. After the first three or four, picking up a new one becomes easier. You just have to learn to think in it."

One hand absently scratching at his newly shortened beard, Majacen then turned to Lynaka. "I am afraid you cannot take the Triforce of Courage with you into the past. There is a distinct possibility that it will be active in the era to which we are traveling, and I do not wish to discover what sort of unforeseen effects would be caused by having the same piece of the Golden Power active in two people at once."

"Good thing you remembered," said Midna. "I didn't even think about that."

Neither had Daskin; he was suddenly even more glad the wizard was along.

Lynaka silently nodded in agreement. "What do I have to do?" she asked.

Majacen was quiet for a moment in thought. "Just sealing it so that you cannot access its powers would not be enough. Merely having the same piece in two places at once might be enough to cause a paradox. I will have to remove it entirely."

Lynaka looked down at her hand. "Will it hurt?"

Majacen smiled reassuringly. "No. You may feel a little strange once it is gone, but there will be no adverse side-effects." He looked around at the vault, gesturing to the volcanic stone walls. "This is the most secure place we can store it for now. I shall place additional wards and seals around it for security, though."

Lynaka nodded. "All right, go ahead."

Daskin watched as Majacen held his hand over Lynaka's, concentrating with his eyes closed, and wondered what she was feeling. Her expression was somewhat apprehensive, though she was trying to hide it.

After a few moments, a small golden metal triangle appeared above her hand, which Majacen somehow manipulated without touching, moving it over to one of the shelves. He worked over it for a moment, and multiple layers of shimmering translucent shields appeared around it as he concentrated.

Daskin watched the procedure, an odd feeling at the back of his mind. The Triforce of Courage was in a way linked to the Hylian side of his family; both his father and at least one ancestor had borne this piece of the Triforce, and now it was in his life as well, through Lynaka. Again, he felt a brief flash of jealousy, wondering why it hadn't gone to him instead, but his father's words to him came back, reminding him that he still had some part to play in all this. This piece of the Golden Power was Lynaka's destiny; his lay along a different path.

When Majacen was finished, he looked at the three others, picking up his desert cloak from the shelf beside him. "Lady Midna, if you will take us to the desert, please?"

Daskin's mother nodded, then turned with a grin to her son. "And after that, no more teleporting around the world; the Twilight Portals didn't exist eighteen-hundred years ago."

"Walk?!" Daskin said in comically exaggerated horror. "That wasn't part of the deal!"

Lynaka laughed and gently punched his shoulder. "Just consider it an opportunity to build up some of those muscles you're going to need."

Majacen sealed up the vault behind them, and once they were outside, Midna transported them all to the mesa at the southwestern part of the expanse of desert south of the Arbiter's Grounds.

When he regained form, Daskin pulled up the hood of his desert cloak, glad the long, sand-colored garment -more like a poncho than a regular cloak- was thin enough to allow the breeze through but heavy enough to keep the sun off of his skin. Even with skin as dark as his was now, the sun was merciless, broiling the desert here in the late afternoon.

"Good idea," said Midna, pulling up the hood of her own cloak. "We might arrive in the middle of a sandstorm or something, and we definitely don't want to get caught out in the open during one of those."

"Should we put the tent up first, then?" asked Lynaka.

"It would be a good idea," Majacen replied. "You're carrying the stakes, Daskin."

Working quickly, they erected the tent the magic-users had fashioned under Lynaka's direction, which was simple and functional, decorated with the angular patterns Lynaka had chosen for their fictitious tribe.

When that was done, they sat around the central tent pole and waited while Majacen concentrated over the Ocarina of Time for a few moments. Finally, the wizard lifted the small blue instrument to his lips and began to play, the melody slow-paced and deceptively complicated. Daskin had never heard anything quite like it, and his eyes closed as he listened.

Moments later, the tent vanished from the mesa as if it had never been, leaving the desert empty again, the winds swiftly shifting the sands to erase all trace of their presence.

---

* * *

---

When Lynaka opened her eyes, the tent around her did not look any different. Midna, Majacen, and Daskin sat in the same place they had been in, their packs arranged around the outer edge of the small tent, and the sun was even in the same general place in the sky, shining through the heavy fabric with a dulled luminosity that belied the harshness its light possessed outside.

She stood up and went outside, her hood raised against the sun and her scarf wrapped around her nose and mouth to filter out the heat and sand.

Outside, the desert stretched on in its endless sandy expanse off to the west, interrupted only by the occasional mesa or rock formation. It looked exactly the same as it always had, and Lynaka began to wonder if the trip through time had really worked.

Then she looked east.

Startled, she realized the huge white castle that had always been at the center of green Hyrule was gone. To the north, so was the enormous coliseum of the Arbiter's Grounds.

No, not gone; not built yet. It _had_ worked. They were in the past!

Majacen emerged from the tent behind her, and he smiled, looking out across the desert. "Ah, right where we want to be," he said. "I gave us six months before the date I thought the Blood Curse was cast, according to the Hylian version of events. That should be plenty of time to find the Great King and work our way into his household before the Dark One's sorcerer makes his fateful offer."

"And yet, we'll have only been gone a second or two when we get back," Daskin said amusedly as he, too, stepped out into the bright sunlight, his words slightly muffled by his own scarf. He winked at Lynaka. "Time travel, huh? Messes with your head if you think about it too much."

Lynaka smirked beneath her scarf, nodding in agreement.

"Funny," Midna said as she looked out at the expansive vista before them, shading her eyes with one hand. "Eighteen-hundred years ago doesn't look much different. Except for that ugly prison not being there, I'd swear we hadn't gone anywhere."

"We haven't, through space at least," Majacen said as he raised his hood. "Now, we'd best pack up this tent as quick as we can. I want to get at least to the nearest oasis before we stop for the night."

The four of them worked quickly, and the tent was down and folded away in their packs in only minutes. Gerudo tents were designed to be quickly put up and taken down, even by those inexperienced; one never knew when a sandstorm would come sweeping out of nowhere, and shelter was vital.

With Majacen in the lead, they covered up with their desert cloaks, scarves, and gloves, and set off. Sand was piled high around the mesa, unlike the time period they had left, so they were able to just walk down onto lower ground instead of climbing.

As they walked, Lynaka began teaching Daskin and Midna modern Gerudo. It was likely to be very different from the language they would encounter when they found the Gerudo of this time, but it was better than nothing. Daskin and his mother were both quick learners, and at the end of four hours of walking, Lynaka was impressed with their progress. They were unable to properly structure sentences and their pronunciation was… amusing, to say the least, but with a few more weeks of practice, they would have at least a fair understanding of Lynaka's native language.

The sun was low in the sky, the first purple streaks of twilight slowly making their appearance, when they finally came to the oasis. Lynaka knew the spot well; there was a small travelers' outpost here in her own time, long abandoned when the oasis had dried up at some point within the last few hundred years. She and her father had sometimes stayed in it when hunting.

Here, in this time, the oasis was deep and fresh, with lush grasses growing all around it along with a few young palm trees. Daskin let out a joyous whoop upon spotting it, and he ran towards the water, shedding pack, belt, and protective clothing along the way.

"You think the water's safe to drink here?" Midna asked Lynaka.

The young warrior watched as Daskin ran up on top of a sandstone outcropping and, shouting at the top of his lungs, leaped into the water with a tremendous splash.

Lynaka smirked. "Not anymore."

Midna laughed, playfully swatting her shoulder. Even Majacen smiled, eyes twinkling merrily.

With a spray of droplets and another shout, Daskin surfaced, sweeping his sodden hair out of his eyes as he looked over at them. "Come on!" he said, waving them over. "The water's great!"

"We _were_ planning on drinking out of there, you know," Lynaka said amusedly.

Daskin waved one hand dismissively, sweeping his other arm across the surface of the water. "Ah, a little sand never hurt anybody."

"It's not the sand I'm concerned about," Lynaka replied, grinning.

Daskin grinned back, flicking water at her. "You coming in or what?" He leaned back, floating on the surface. "I'm perfectly happy to have the whole pool to myself."

"I'm perfectly happy to let you have it," Lynaka said, still grinning.

Daskin affected an unconcerned shrug. "Your loss," he said, stretching lazily.

"_Get your filthy carcass out of the Great King's drinking water, fool!_" a loud, irate female voice snapped in archaic-sounding Gerudo.

Daskin flinched, looking around for the source of the voice. Lynaka looked, also, one hand on the scimitar at her side. After a moment, she spotted the tall, slender Gerudo woman standing next to one of the trees on the other side of the pool, a bow in her hands with an arrow nocked but not drawn back. Her bright green eyes were narrowed, glaring down at Daskin.

"_Let him enjoy himself, Naraana,_" an amused, extremely deep male voice said from behind the woman. "_I was planning on doing the same myself._"

Lynaka looked for the source of the voice, and her breath caught in her throat as the man stepped into view. The man was quite probably the biggest person she had ever seen, nearly eight feet in height with shoulders almost as wide as Lynaka was tall. His hair was the fiery red of all Gerudo, his eyes a bright shade of amber, and he was thickly muscled; his biceps were nearly as big around as Lynaka's head, relaxed. This man could probably bend thick steel with his bare hands.

He wore loose dark brown pants and an open vest of a lighter color, a leather weapons belt around his waist. The familiar jeweled scimitar at his side confirmed the man's identity beyond all doubt.

Lynaka dropped to one knee, clapping one fist to her opposite shoulder in respect. This could be no one else but he whom they sought.

"_I apologize for the intrusion, O Great Raneses_," Lynaka said in Gerudo, trying to match the archaic tone he and the woman used. "_We did not know you were here._"

Raneses the Great smiled broadly, his teeth white against the dark tan of his skin. "_You know me,_" he said, his tone pleased. "_I do not recognize your accent, young daughter. Tell me, where are you and your family from?_"

"_We are from the southern desert, Great King,_" Majacen replied in flawless archaic Gerudo. "_My daughter, my grandchildren, and I were searching for you, that we might show fealty to he who united our people._"

Naraana let out an annoyed sigh, looking over at Raneses. "_More supplicants_," she said disgustedly. "_Now we have even more groveling to put up with._" She glared at Daskin again, who had not moved. "_And you're still in our water!_" she snapped. "_Get out of there!_"

Trying his best not to let on that he didn't understand the exact words, Daskin slowly started to get out of the pool, but stopped when the king rose a hand, looking over at him.

Surprising Lynaka, Raneses the Great let out a great booming laugh. "_Stay where you are,_" he said in between chuckles. He turned to the woman at his side. "_Let our guests from the south enjoy themselves, Niece,_" he said in mild reproof. "_They have as much right to this oasis as we do._"

Naraana bowed her head in grudging acceptance. "_As you say, Uncle,_" she said tersely.

Raneses gestured down at the oasis with a broad wave of his huge hand. "_Please, refresh yourselves, travelers,_" he said with a genial smile. "_You must have traveled a long way._"

_You have no idea,_ Lynaka thought to herself.

---

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks for this chapter goes to Seldavia and Desteni for beta reading, and also to Silverwolf05, who, as I mentioned last chapter, suggested most of the items in the Heavenly Vault. As of this writing, Chapter 12 is completely written out, but I'm waiting until I get a good ways into Chapter 13 to post, so I can get ahead again. As always, thanks for reading!


	12. Far From Home

Twelve

(Far From Home)

Princess Zelda watched from the cockpit of the _Phoenix_ as her small airship approached Belakar City, the capital of the Calatian Empire. Surrounded by a massive forest of blue-leafed trees, Belakar City sat at the intersection of two rivers, straddling the banks in an ordered sprawl of lumber, metal, and stone.

A huge, thick wall of dark red stone surrounded the city, rising above the height of all of the buildings within except for the palace, which sat inside its own triangular inner wall; a fortress inside a fortress. It was widely boasted that no enemy had ever managed to successfully occupy the inner keep in all of Calatia's two-thousand year history. His Imperial Majesty, Emperor Belakar, the thirteenth to bear that name since the first Emperor had built the city and named it after himself, ruled the huge empire from this city, the trade hub of the entire continent.

The Calatian Empire itself now encompassed nearly the entire continent, due to the current Emperor's numerous conquests. Ignoring treaties that had stood for centuries, the present Belakar had invaded and subjugated two of his neighboring countries, and was rumored to be massing his forces for a third invasion. Not only that, the army he had sent to aid the slaver campaign had claimed all of its conquered territory as a Calatian colony, and the Emperor was also rumored to be plotting an expedition to the relatively unknown continent across the eastern ocean, where Lynaka's father Arnak had come from.

"I want it to be said that the sun never sets on my empire," Zelda's uncle had proudly declared to her on a previous visit. "Someday, Calatia will rule the entire world." He had given Zelda's mother the Queen a conciliatory look then. "Along with our ally Hyrule, of course," he amended.

"Of course," the Queen had replied mildly. Zelda knew her mother well enough to see the withering look she hid beneath her diplomatically neutral expression.

That exchange replayed itself in Zelda's mind as the _Phoenix_ approached her uncle's palace. If Viserys' spies were right, her uncle was well on his way to making good his boast, by whatever means he saw fit.

"Your uncle welcomes you to Calatia," Impa said from the copilot's seat, looking up from the Communication Stone mounted there. "He says we may land in the inner courtyard."

"Thank him for his welcome," Zelda said, looking down at the ornate palace.

"Her Highness thanks His Majesty her uncle for his gracious welcome," Impa said into the stone. "We will be landing shortly."

"This will make the first time I've met the Emperor," Horys remarked from the pilot's seat, looking back over his shoulder at Zelda. "Anything I should keep in mind?"

After exchanging a glance with Impa to confirm the connection was cut, Zelda replied. "Just be polite and let me do most of the talking," she said. "My uncle and his courtiers love to trap people with their words and trick them into revealing things. If he asks you a pointed question you don't want to answer, be politely evasive."

Horys raised an amused eyebrow. "Politely evasive?"

Zelda smiled. "Just watch me for how to do it. I've had quite a lot of practice."

He chuckled, angling the small airship down in a gentle descent for the inner keep.

"Don't let on that I have the Triforce of Wisdom," Zelda said as the _Phoenix_ leveled out and slowly began to descend. "That isn't something I want my uncle knowing yet, especially if he has a sorcerer from the Divine Host hidden in his court. As far as they should know, this is a friendly visit because I happened to be in the area on another matter."

"What other matter, in case he asks?" Impa asked.

Horys grinned. "We'll politely evade that till we think of something good."

Zelda laughed lightly.

As the _Phoenix_ settled onto the ground, Zelda saw an honor guard of perhaps two dozen Calatian soldiers lining up in formation along the path to the gate of the inner courtyard of the palace, along with a dozen knights, their polished steel armor gleaming brightly in the sun.

As she stood and went back to the hatch, Zelda straightened her tiara and smoothed down her dress. They had stopped on a small island in the middle of the western ocean for the night, and that morning she had changed from her traveling clothes to one of the more formal outfits she kept aboard her airship, a deep red ensemble 'in honor' of her father's side of her family.

While she waited, Zelda took a few moments to concentrate more fully on what she privately called her 'princess face', a polite though inscrutable expression designed to give the impression of being cordial without giving anything away. With all the intrigue of court life, being able to mask one's true emotions was a vital skill. She prepared herself for the undoubtedly exhausting ordeal of dealing with her uncle and the rest of his court, dreading it but summoning up her determination anyway.

Horys was also dressed in a stiff formal outfit, his hair immaculately combed and even his glasses polished. As the fiancé of a princess, he had to look the part in front of the Calatians. He was technically a prince himself, though his family did not consider themselves royalty. His father Viserys was a legal monarch, but refused any title more ostentatious than 'Lord' for himself.

Since his family had started as the head of a large mercenary organization, Zelda knew Horys would receive an incredible number of backhanded compliments and other cleverly worded derogations of his heritage from the snobby aristocrats her uncle surrounded himself with, but she would tolerate no disrespect of the man she loved. She could deliver excruciatingly polite insults just as well as they could.

Finally ready, she nodded to Impa, and the Sheikah warrior opened the hatch and stepped outside, taking up position next to it.

Zelda followed, lightly moving down the short steps as she regally passed her gaze over the gathered soldiers. A herald, waiting in front of her, smartly spun and unrolled a gilt-edged scroll, loudly proclaiming her titles to the elite gathered in the courtyard.

"Presenting Her Royal Highness, heir to the throne of the Sovereign Nation of Hyrule, Grand Duchess of the Empire of Calatia, Her Imperial Grace, the Crown Princess Zelda!"

Zelda's expression did not so much as flicker at the unusual addition, but she was privately suspicious. She was not ordinarily introduced as 'Her Imperial Grace', not even here among her father's family. What was her uncle up to?

It almost seemed as if he was trying to associate her more strongly with the royalty of Calatia than her home. 'Grand Duchess' was the equivalent of 'Princess' here in the Empire; all members of the immediate royal family were called Grand Duke or Duchess, including all sons or daughters of an Emperor and their children.

"Escorted by the Prince Consort, Horys of Balacruf!" the herald intoned as Horys emerged from the _Phoenix_.

Again, her expression remained unchanged, but Zelda felt like frowning. Not so much as a 'Highness' or even a 'Lord' for him; she might have guessed. The snubbing had begun already.

Zelda adopted a small, polite smile as she extended her arm and Horys took it, waiting for her uncle the Emperor to approach and greet them personally.

A group of trumpeters standing behind the soldiers along the plush red carpet that had been rolled up to the _Phoenix_'s hatch extended their slim silver instruments at a high skyward angle and blew a complicated but well-orchestrated series of notes, cunningly timed to take greatest advantage of the echo from the high stone walls around. Zelda wondered how often her uncle made them practice this.

Another herald at the other end of the carpet stepped from the group of functionaries and opened his own scroll, -even bigger and more ornate than the one describing her titles had been, Zelda noticed- and boomed its contents across the courtyard.

"His Exalted Imperial Majesty, Gracious Ruler of the Empire of Calatia, Sovereign of lands encircling the world, thirteenth to bear his Blessed Name, the Emperor Belakar and his Beloved Empress, Katarina!"

Zelda sensed an inward disgusted scoff from Impa, though she knew hey bodyguard's face remained as expressionless as her own. Horys similarly maintained a polite expression, but was inwardly rolling his eyes at the ostentatious introduction.

The Emperor emerged from the huge double doors, dressed in rich scarlet robes and wearing an ornate jeweled crown. Zelda's uncle was in his mid-fifties, with dark brown hair which hung to his shoulders, matched by a thick, precisely trimmed beard, both of which were lightly dusted with gray. On his arm, smiling genially, was his young wife.

The Empress was Belakar XIII's second wife, his first having died while delivering his second-youngest daughter, Zelda's cousin Anna. Empress Katarina was only a year or two older than Zelda, with an elaborately arranged flowing mane of golden-blonde hair beneath her jeweled crown. Her crimson gown was just as ornate as her husband's robes, intricately embroidered with gold thread, but Zelda thought it was cut rather too low at the neckline. The Empress was a very beautiful young woman, and this was made as obvious as possible through her appearance. Zelda thought it utterly tasteless for her uncle to flaunt a bride younger than his oldest son, but as always, kept her opinions to herself.

"Zelda, my dear, what a wonderful surprise!" the Emperor exclaimed with a broad smile as he approached. "I wish you would have given me more warning you were coming. We could have prepared a decent welcome for you."

"This was very nice, Uncle," Zelda said, smiling back. "Thank you. I thought the trumpeters did especially well."

"Oh, they were horribly out of tune," Katarina said disdainfully. "We ought to cut their pay again for being so lazy."

Zelda smiled at her anyway. "Dearest Aunt, I was so happy to hear of the birth of your first child," she said, outwardly as polite and genial as could be imagined, but inwardly sneering right back. She was _not_ fond of her uncle's second wife, nor was Katarina of her. "I am sure the Grand Duchess Maria will grow to be as beautiful as her mother."

_On both the outside and the inside,_ Zelda thought inwardly. _I'm sure she'll be as horrid a brat as the rest of the royal children_.

Katarina smiled, an expression so obviously forced that Zelda thought it was a wonder her face didn't shatter. "You're too kind, Zelda," she said sweetly, the minutest hint of sarcasm hidden in her tone.

"So, my dear, what brings you by?" the Emperor asked, still not quite pointedly ignoring Horys. "Not that we aren't delighted to see you."

"We were exploring some ruins on the western coast," Zelda said, pulling Horys ever so slightly forward. "Since we were so close, and it had been so long since I had seen you, I thought a visit might be nice. Besides, you haven't met my fiancé yet, have you, Uncle?"

"I haven't," said the Emperor, finally looking over at Horys. "I wish you both the best of happiness. Very nice to finally meet you, dear boy."

"It is an honor to meet you, as well, Your Majesties," Horys said smoothly, inclining his head slightly. "Zelda has told me all about you."

"Nothing too bad, I hope," the Emperor chuckled with false joviality. Zelda knew he was all but sneering down his nose at both of them.

Horys smiled genially. "Of course not, Your Majesty," he replied.

"How is your father, Viserys?" asked Empress Katarina, mispronouncing it as 'Vice-riss', probably deliberately.

"Lord Viserys is quite well, thank you," Horys replied, using the correct pronunciation but not emphasizing it, as if he hadn't even noticed. He was handling this very well, Zelda thought. "He sends his greetings."

"Thank him for us," the Empress replied. "Tell me, is he still fighting slaves in that forest he moved into?"

Zelda narrowed her eyes ever so slightly at Katarina's deliberate, dismissive rudeness. She was only barely concealing the fact that she considered Horys and his family no more than upstart commoners. Katarina probably considered it a very great favor that she was deigning to speak with him at all.

"The liberation is progressing very smoothly, Your Majesty," Horys answered, still no trace of offense in his voice or expression, though Zelda knew his opinion of the Empress was steadily lowering with each thinly veiled slight. "The slavers will soon be defeated for good."

"And good riddance, too," said the Emperor. "Come, let us go inside. I've asked the royal chefs to prepare a little something for us."

Zelda thought the tables were probably groaning under that 'little something' inside. The Emperor never missed a chance to show off how fabulously wealthy he was. She wished she could have known his father, her grandfather, who, according to her mother, had been much more gracious and cultured than his heir.

She smiled and followed her uncle and his wife inside, arm in arm with Horys with Impa close behind. Throughout the entire conversation, Zelda had been passively searching the crowd of dignitaries with her higher senses, looking for anything out of the ordinary. So far, all of them were regular humans, just as absent of the ability to use magic as Horys.

If there was in fact a sorcerer here, she would know it immediately.

---

* * *

---

Erike restlessly drummed the fingers of her left hand against the hilt of the scimitar at her waist. For nearly an hour now, she had been feeling strangely restless and apprehensive, and not knowing why was making her even more so.

Her parents were still conferring with Queen Zelda and her advisors, getting ready to head out to the desert to search for the Twin Witches, Koume and Kotake. Since the conference yesterday in which this had been decided, Link and Arnak had been trading information, filling each other in on all they knew about Ganondorf's adoptive mothers, along with Val, who knew still more. They wanted to be as prepared as possible before finding the Twin Witches, as well as the possibility of waging war in the desert, in case the Divine Host attempted to set up a staging ground there from which to strike at Hyrule.

When the alarm bell rang, accompanied by shouting from one of the sentries patrolling the castle walls, Erike immediately leaped from her seat and dashed to the nearest exit to the walls. On her way, she passed a Hyrule Soldier, who had one hand on the top of his helmet as he ran through the halls at top speed, heading for the conference room.

Outside, Erike saw why the man had been running so fast; the outer courtyards of the castle were filled with huge, hulking brutes in black-and-purple uniforms, their faces painted with fierce streaks of red and black.

Erike whipped her scimitar out its scabbard, unconsciously dropping into a defensive stance at the unexpected sight. How had they gotten inside?

The city forces were on full alert now, charging out of the castle to engage the invaders. The creak and shuffle of the Divine Host's leather uniforms blended with the clank and rattle of the chain-mail and armor plates of the Hyrulian soldiers, then mixed into a cacophony of shouting, screaming and weapons clashing together as the defenders engaged the enemy.

Erike passed her gaze quickly over the scene, taking in as much information as she could. There were perhaps a hundred and fifty Divine Host soldiers in the courtyard, but from the alarms and gesturing of the soldiers on the opposite wall of the central courtyard, there may have been more in the main city. The defenders, the garrison permanently stationed in Castle Town as the city and palace guard, numbered two hundred and fifty, with a number of other regiments rotating in and out in support of this.

Except, Erike remembered, the majority of the supporting regiment was camped outside the city, near the southern and eastern entrances; if the invaders raised the city drawbridges, the people of Castle Town would be trapped inside with them.

Erike's thoughts were interrupted by the sudden appearance of a group of six Divine Host soldiers a few yards away on the wall. A momentary whirl of thick dark smoke and a sound like electrical crackling was all the warning she had before the creature-soldiers charged at her, grinning hideously beneath their war paint and screaming unintelligibly.

The young warrior braced herself, calculating which of the brutes to engage first as she tightened her grip on her scimitar. Both her father and mother -and later, her sister- had trained her in how to engage multiple foes at once.

As the first came within range, Erike tensed her legs, sprang up onto the parapet, and pushed off into a twisting downward slash with her blade. The soldier put up his blade in an attempt to block, but there was too much force behind her own strike, and her blade smashed his sword back into his own chest. He puffed into smoke, but she didn't pause, moving on immediately on to the next one.

The next three charged her at once, while the other two ran howling at a pair of Hyrule Soldiers who emerged out onto the wall, spears in their hands and swords sheathed at their sides.

Erike whirled her scimitar through a wide, looping pattern that blocked the heavy, slashing strikes of all three of her opponents without losing momentum, deflecting their strikes aside rather than halting them entirely. As she blocked a strike, her leg snapped out and the pointed toe of her boot struck one of the creature-soldiers just under the kneecap. Even over the din of battle, she heard the sharp _crunch_ and the creature-soldier's subsequent howl of pain and rage.

The young Gerudo hurled herself into a backflip to avoid the next charge of the other two, landed in a one-handed handspring, then pushed off again and landed with both feet on the parapet, giving her the high ground for a moment. The three Divine Host soldiers ran after her, one limping behind the other two, but the moment to stabilize her footing was all she needed.

In a stroke of luck, one of the creature-soldiers toppled and puffed into smoke a few steps away from her, uselessly swiping at the arrow that had sprouted from its throat before it disappeared. Erike was too busy fending off the other two to look for the archer, but when three more shafts snapped into her remaining opponents only moments later, she knew he or she was nearby.

The limping creature-soldier continued to advance, by all appearances unaware of the arrow sticking out of his chest next to his right arm, while his fellow, who had taken one in the center of his chest and another in the forehead, exploded into yet another cloud of dark smoke.

It had been only two or three seconds at the most since she had leaped atop the parapet, and now the limping creature-soldier finished closing the distance. Erike slashed down at him, crossing blades with the brute three times in rapid succession before she twisted her curved blade around his and plunged its point into his heart. The creature-soldier vanished into smoke before he could even slide off her blade.

Erike looked around for the archer who had assisted her, passing her eyes over the high places on the walls, and was surprised to note that it was none other than her sister, who stood on the opposite wall across the courtyard, a massive recurved bow nearly as long as she was tall in her hands. Erike could not see her very well from this far away through the haze created by all the defeated creature-soldiers, but a tall, dark-skinned woman with red hair, wearing a sleeveless green jerkin, could be no one other than Lynaka.

Beside her stood Daskin, wearing his usual dark-colored clothes, but he wielded an unfamiliar black-and-gray sword with a blue-green gem set into the crosspiece, occasionally letting loose a thin beam of energy from his hand at the creature-soldiers in the courtyard below.

But behind them was the person of most note; a huge, thickly muscled man, who had to be well over seven feet tall, wearing a dark brown hooded tunic that shadowed his face. The rest of his garb was in leather and dark fabric, crisscrossed with belts festooned with numerous knives, axes, and swords, more than one man could possibly use at once. Currently, the man held a huge double-bladed war-axe in both hands, his legs tensed as his unseen eyes stared down at the crowd of soldiers below.

He said something to Lynaka, gesturing across the way at Erike with his axe, then pointed with one hand down at the courtyard full of battling soldiers. Lynaka turned half around to answer him, then nodded sharply. As she did this, Erike noted with surprise that Lynaka's long hair was gone, now shorter than Erike had ever seen it on her; it did not even reach her shoulders.

The huge hooded man then immediately ran forward and leaped over the wall, falling all the way down to the courtyard as casually as if he had simply skipped a step on the way down a staircase. He landed lightly on both feet, then immediately charged into a formation of Divine Host soldiers, where he proceeded to lay waste to them with his enormous axe. He towered over them, a bear amid a pack of hyenas, a massive pillar of wrath unleashed upon the hordes rampaging through the castle, and none could stop him.

With great difficulty, Erike wrenched her attention away from the unfamiliar man and back up to her sister, who had been waving to get her attention. Lynaka made a circular motion with her hand, gesturing out at the encircling wall, then pointed at Erike, letting her know she was going to make her way over to her. Erike nodded, gripping her scimitar tightly, and braced herself for the appearance of any more of the creature-soldiers in the meantime.

Daskin ran to the edge of the wall and leaped up, impossibly high and far, lightly gliding all the way across the courtyard until he dropped to the stone wall next to her. He grinned, his deep blue eyes twinkling mischievously.

"I thought I'd drop by and keep you company till your sister gets here," he shouted to her over the cacophony of battle.

Erike nodded, noting as she did so that Daskin's hair was much longer than the last time she had seen him, which was only yesterday by her reckoning. He had also acquired three parallel scars on his left cheek just under his eye, spaced closely together and thin, as if left by a creature with small sharp claws. She had to remind herself that he had been gone for weeks, possibly months, by his own sense of time, back in the era of Raneses the Great, but it was still startling to see such a change in his appearance.

"Where is Majacen?" she asked him, keeping sharp watch out for more enemies.

"He's with my mother and Akima, making sure she's all right while they look for the sorcerer controlling this lot," Daskin shouted back.

"Who's Akima?" Erike asked, puzzled.

"Later!" Daskin grunted as he threw out his hand, aiming behind her. A long, twisting rope of blue-white electricity leaped from his hand, smashing with thunderbolt force into a group of Divine Host soldiers that had appeared a few yards away.

The group of soldiers, perhaps six or seven, existed for only a moment; no sooner had they appeared from the cloud of smoke than Daskin's lightning bolt crashed into them and sent them all flying, to puff back into smoke as they tumbled through the air.

Erike turned back to the young man, surprised; clearly, he had been studying magic intensively during his sojourn back in time.

One of the thick metal doors leading into the castle opened, and Erike's father and Lord Fenris charged out, their swords drawn. The sun glinted through the haze off of Arnak's huge greatsword, flickering as he smashed it into an approaching creature-soldier with enough force to send it sailing over the wall into the courtyard below. Link saw the two of them and ran over, his shield in one hand and his sword in the other.

In only moments, the former Triforce Bearers were at their side, weapons held ready. Arnak towered over the shorter Link, yet both looked equally deadly in entirely different ways, contrasted in powerful strength and skillful speed.

"Most of them are in the city!" Link shouted to them, gesturing beyond the castle walls with his sword. "We think that's where the sorcerers are, as well!"

"There's more than one?" Daskin asked his father.

Arnak nodded. "At least three," he replied. "Too much magic is being used out there to be only one, and a few of the soldiers have seen two standing together at one spot on the wall while another attacks from the other side of the city."

"Make that four," Daskin said, running to the edge of the wall and leaping off. Erike followed him with her eyes, watching as he soared up into the air over the battle toward another levitating figure, its long dark robes flowing around it with the wind as it hurled magic missiles down at the defenders in the courtyard.

The two of them met with a crash Erike could hear all the way down on the wall, trading blows as they flew out of sight behind the castle.

At that moment, Lynaka finished her circle around the courtyard wall and joined them. As she approached, Erike again noted with surprise the changes in her sister's appearance; not only was her hair shorter, Lynaka was now much more muscular than she had been the last time Erike had seen her, and she also had a scar on her face. The scar ran from the corner of her right eye down her cheek, ending just above the level of her mouth, as if she had wept a tear made of acid and it had etched a path down her face.

But beyond that, Lynaka's dark brown eyes were much, much harder, full of a deep-seated pain and sorrow, as if she had just seen someone she loved very much die in front of her and was now hunting for the murderer.

In Lynaka's hand was a twin to the sword Daskin had, but with a blue hilt, white blade, and yellow gem set into the crosspiece; the Master Sword, the Blade of Evil's Bane. Erike saw Link nod in recognition of the weapon he had once wielded himself.

"The Divine Host is here to try to assassinate the Queen!" Lynaka said, gesturing with the Master Sword at the inner keep. "They seek to disrupt Hyrule so that it cannot mount a proper defense against their main force, which marches from the south." She looked up at their father. "We should stay near Queen Zelda until Daskin and the others destroy the sorcerers commanding this group."

"The upper throne room is easily defensible," Link replied, sheathing his sword as he dug in his belt for his Communication Stone. "We'll take her there."

As they moved toward the door, Lynaka stopped Erike with a hand on her shoulder. "It is good to see you again, little sister," she said, surprising Erike yet again with a broad smile. Erike was in the midst of replying when Lynaka pulled her into a tight embrace, as if she had not seen her in months instead of only hours, which was probably true for her.

"I have much to tell you," Lynaka said as she released Erike. "When the battle is over."

Erike nodded, watching as Lynaka moved to the edge of the wall. "Up here!" the Hero shouted down into the courtyard.

In reply, the huge hooded man appeared suddenly over the edge of the wall, landing as if he had jumped up from the courtyard. Erike realized how he was able to do the extraordinary things she had seen as he moved past her; on his right hand shone the triangle-of-triangles emblem of the Triforce, with the top portion of the symbol gleaming brightest through his leather glove.

The Bearer of Power looked over at Erike, and though she could not see his eyes within his hood, she did see that he had a dark brown scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face as a mask. He nodded slightly to her as if in recognition or respect, then silently moved off after the others, his multitudinous weapons gleaming in the hazy light.

Arnak gave the man a narrow-eyed glance as he passed him, his dark eyes flicking down to the shining symbol on the man's hand which represented the piece of the Golden Power that he had once borne himself. The man gave Arnak another slight nod, as if recognizing his predecessor.

As a group they ran through the halls of the inner keep, making their way to the top, with Link in the lead. Lynaka took up the rear, running backwards as skillfully as if she had eyes in the back of her head to keep her on course. On their way through the white halls, carpeted in blue with many paintings and decorative weapons lining the walls, they passed armed and armored Hyrule Soldiers rushing to defensive positions, carrying weapons ranging from pikes to crossbows, barking orders to one another over the rattle of their armor.

Swiftly, they ran up the spiraling staircase leading to the upper throne room, interspersed with landings designed as gathering areas for defenders to hold as chokepoints for invaders ascending the stairs to the throne room. Somehow, Erike noted as she glanced behind once, Lynaka managed to climb the stairs facing backwards, her eyes sweeping back and forth in watch for pursuers.

At last, they reached the final landing and the massive metal door which was a last barrier between the upper throne room and the rest of the castle. Arnak moved to grab the lower edge of the door and heave it open, but the Bearer of Power was faster, and opened the huge door with one hand, waving the others through with his axe. As Lynaka passed him, Erike saw the quick nod her sister gave the huge man, and the slight inclining of his head in response.

In two groups, they ran up the pair of staircases that framed the massive door at the rear edge of the balcony just beneath the throne room that overlooked the city. They came together again on the central staircase at the top of the landing where the two lower staircases met, and rushed into the throne room, where they found Queen Zelda waiting with three dozen Hyrule Soldiers, some wielding pikes, spears, and swords, and others holding bows aimed at the entrance.

Queen Zelda's eyes widened noticeably as she looked down at the Bearer of Power, her fingers tightening on her sword, but the huge, silent man held up one hand in a placating gesture, as if reassuring her that he meant no harm here.

Again, Erike's suspicions as to the man's identity renewed themselves.

"Here they come!" the Bearer of Power called to the rest of them, his voice deep and powerful, with an oddly familiar accent.

By the dozens, a huge crowd of Divine Host soldiers appeared in the empty spaces in the cavernous throne room. The Bearer of Power rushed up the carpeted stairs to the throne and took up position three steps below Queen Zelda, his gigantic axe held up in a defensive position.

Lynaka led the charge against the incoming horde, her long white blade flashing as she whirled it in a deadly dance through their ranks. She moved as gracefully as a dancer, shifting fluidly from one creature-soldier to the next in what seemed like one long, uninterrupted movement. The Master Sword leaped out like a striking snake, slicing through two, sometimes three of the Divine Host's soldiers at a time as she slashed through them like a crashing wave. Soon, she was so obscured by smoke from her defeated opponents that Lynaka was only visible by the flash of her blade in the sunlight.

A few yards away, her predecessor as Hero moved no less skillfully, engaging four, sometimes even five creature-soldiers at once as his blade slashed through devastating offensive patterns. Link moved with the speed of both skill and experience, dodging and blocking the heavy slashes of the huge brutes of the Divine Host as he simultaneously sliced through their defenses with his own blade. He made the attacks of the enemy seem almost laughable, as if they were so far beneath his own skill level that it was barely worth his time to fight them.

Arnak's huge greatsword rose and fell like a tumultuous flow of lava, running over and obliterating anything in its path as he moved like a storm of death through the ranks of the enemy. For the first time, Erike saw a true glimpse of what her father must have been like during the war in which he had met her mother; a terrifying, unstoppable titan. Armed with the Triforce of Power, nothing could have stood in his way. Even now, as only a mortal, he was nearly a legion by himself, destroying dozens like they were nothing.

In the company of such glorious warriors, Erike felt almost small, insignificant in the sight of such incredible prowess with the blade, but it was an honor to fight at their side nonetheless. Readying her own weapon, Erike hurled herself into the horde, slashing, whirling, and striking with all the skill and speed she possessed.

Her thoughts shifted down into a narrow focus as she moved from one step to the next, lashing out with her blade each time one of her feet met the ground. Everything came down to one thought: _cut_. No fancy twirls of the blade, no unnecessary spins, just cut. Deal death with every strike, slash with greatest efficiency of movement to leave foes defeated on the ground behind.

As she moved, it seemed to Erike as if a stirring swell of music accompanied her actions, with a sharp percussive beat every time she landed a strike. She found herself moving in time with the inner music, with soaring strings dictating when to move and how, punctuated by crashing blasts of brassy horns at the end of the crescendo every time her scimitar connected with the blade or body of an opponent. A driving, pulsing drum beat tied everything together, increasing and decreasing in speed and intensity in tune with the flow of her movements.

It seemed like everyone around was affected in the same way, Erike realized as she followed the inner symphony through the cadence of the battle; it was as if she and all the other defenders were instruments in a great orchestra of combat, moving in concert to best reinforce the others as the music swelled, soaring thunderously along as the tide of the battle turned in their favor.

Standing at the top of the stairs beneath the throne was the conductor of the orchestra of battle; Erike could see the Bearer of Power with his feet spread widely apart, his hands raised high above his head as he gestured dramatically with his gigantic war-axe as if it were a conductor's baton. As his hands moved, the troops surged in the directions indicated, though almost no one was looking at him. Erike was soon caught up in the music again, and lost sight of the huge hooded man as he conducted the defense of the Queen.

More creature-soldiers appeared all the time, rushing up the stairs and into the throne room from their apparent launching point on the balcony. Erike moved to head out that way, but even as she noticed the clouds of smoke from the appearing creature-soldiers, Lynaka and Arnak charged out of the door and down the stairs, wading through dozens of foes as easily as through water, their swords whirling in an almost beautiful symmetry as each reinforced the other.

Erike and Link took up position side-by-side in front of the main door to the throne room, also moving in accompaniment. What Erike missed, Link intercepted, and the reverse was also true. What few soldiers got past the two of them were engaged by the Queen's guard, though their numbers were thinning. Once, Erike both saw and felt a huge bolt of energy scream down from the rear of the throne room and smash into a particularly thick group of Divine Host soldiers, incinerating them to ash in an instant.

The music of battle swelled in crescendo, growing in speed and volume as more and more creature-soldiers poured in. The notes whirled about with a frenzy that somehow made the overall sound work even more strongly together, and Erike found herself moving faster and faster in time with the music, far beyond the speed of which she had thought herself capable as she eliminated the Divine Host's soldiers almost faster than they could appear. She had long since lost count of how many foes she had destroyed, moving on to the next as more and more surged toward her.

Finally, the music reached a dramatic, thunderous refrain, repeating again and again in a reinforcing rhythm, building in both speed and volume with each repetition. Erike and Link seemed almost to move as one, working together in such harmony that nothing could get past the two of them, not even with the increasing numbers of the enemy.

A dissonant, contrasting theme broke through the music as a dark figure, robed in deep purple, soared into the throne room over their heads, long light-colored hair streaming behind him with the speed of his flight. His eyes glowed with a fierce purple light, and the dark, menacing theme that accompanied him swelled to an aggressive surge as he swept out an arm toward the Bearer of Power.

Everything seemed to pause for a long moment, only slow, powerful strings accompanying the movements of the hooded man as he sprang up with a long, powerful leap into the air, his axe held high with both hands over his head. A singular note, slow but powerful, increased in volume and intensity as he soared into he air, and was finally punctuated by a tremendous blast from the horns as he smashed his huge axe into the sorcerer's body.

The sorcerer tumbled backwards through the air, and the Bearer of Power, still hovering in place, threw out his hand, his fingers splayed wide. A huge, roaring blast of flame leaped out at the falling dark mage, accompanied by a rapid intricate rhythm of strings with a slowly building blast of horns in imitation of the fire in a crescendo as it rushed through the air.

With a final, dramatic swell of the music coming from nowhere, the sorcerer was consumed by the horizontal pillar of fire and disappeared. The warriors on the ground rapidly finished off the remaining creature-soldiers, slowing down as the notes faded away into silence.

As the last strains of the music trickled away, Link shook his head as if emerging from a daze and turned to Erike with surprise on his face. "Could you hear… _music_ during that fight?" he asked incredulously.

Erike nodded. "Yes," she replied. "I thought I was the only one. I did not question it, for it seemed as if I fought better under its influence."

Link slowly sheathed his sword, looking around the throne room at the fading haze of smoke and the bodies of the fallen defenders. "Me, too," he agreed. "It was like the stronger the music became, the better I fought."

"What you felt," said the deep, powerful voice of the Bearer of Power behind them, "was the magic technique of Battle Music, used to inspire and reinforce troops while directing them without the need for worded orders."

"I have never heard of any such technique," Queen Zelda said as she slowly descended the steps leading to her throne, looking at the huge, hooded man who stood almost in the center of the massive throne room.

The Bearer of Power's hood turned toward her, and though she could not see his face, Erike had the distinct impression that he was grinning. "That is because I invented it," he replied. "The Triforce of Power greatly enhances its effects, as you observed here today.

"Who are you?" the Queen challenged, her demeanor growing more and more suspicious by the moment as she peered at the huge man.

"I am your ally, my queen," the Bearer of Power replied, his voice placating. "Rest assured, I mean you no harm, for our interests are the same in this fight. The Divine Host is just as much my enemy as it is yours, Your Majesty."

Erike glanced behind to see her sister and father approaching, putting away their own weapons. Lynaka's expression was resigned, as if she had known this confrontation was coming but was unsure of what to do to avoid it, while Arnak's face was rapidly moving into a suspicious expression similar to the Queen's as he stared at the Bearer of Power.

"Remove your hood," Queen Zelda said coldly, making it clear her statement was an order with all the authority her royal bearing could provide.

The Bearer of Power thrust the long handle of his double-bladed war-axe through a pair of leather loops on one of the baldrics crossing his back, his hooded head looking around at the gathered warriors. Slowly, almost reluctantly, he reached up and pulled the scarf around his lower face down to his neck, then placed both hands on the edge of his hood.

As the Bearer of Power lowered his hood, Erike's suspicions were confirmed, as were those of everyone else gathered here. The face was incredibly familiar, though not quite the same as she was used to; it was much smoother, totally unlined or scarred, and the skin was a healthy tan, without the greenish tinge to which she was accustomed. He was much younger, only in his mid-twenties, and was clean-shaven, with long fiery red hair that fell past his shoulders as he pulled his ponytail out of his collar.

The present Bearer of Power was none other than a Gerudo male, specifically one of the most infamous in her people's history:

Ganondorf.

---

* * *

Author's Note: I wrote the battle scene while listening to the Apocalyptica album '_Worlds Collide_' on 'repeat'. The songs are probably on YouTube somewhere if you do not have the album and are curious. I then selected my entire Symphonic Metal collection and listened to that during the editing process. That was loads of fun, let me tell you.

As I said last chapter, this was done at my last posting, but since my computer is in the shop(again), I wanted to stretch out my reserve of completed chapters a little. Chapter 13 is only about half done right now, which is actually a bit behind, on my preferred schedule for this story. I'll try to work on it through my flash drive and the other computers I can get to, but it may go a little slower than we'd like. But, until then, thanks for reading!


	13. The Enemy of my Enemy

_Author's Note: Because it's been so long since the last update(more on that at the bottom) I recommend that you look over the last chapter to refresh yourself._

Thirteen

(The Enemy Of My Enemy)

Princess Zelda and her fiancé Horys strolled along the opulent corridors of the royal palace of Calatia, by all appearances idly chatting as they looked at the decorative weapons, tapestries, and paintings lining the red, white, and gold-decorated halls. To an outside observer, they appeared to be nothing more than a happy young couple enjoying a late afternoon walk.

However, despite their outwardly relaxed demeanor, both of them were tense, surreptitiously on the lookout for the Divine Host sorcerer they both now knew beyond all doubt was lurking somewhere in the palace.

Zelda had sensed the sorcerer late last night, when she had been woken by the tense, static feel of powerful magic being worked nearby. With a chill, she recognized the peculiar feel of dark magic, the kind she had sensed being used during the battle in the Far South.

The next morning, she had sent Impa to unobtrusively slip into Horys' room and inform him of her discovery while Zelda meditated in an attempt to pinpoint the sorcerer's location.

Now, her Sheikah bodyguard was continuing the investigation while Zelda and Horys continued their pretense of a friendly visit to the princess' uncle, the Emperor of Calatia.

Horys stopped in front of a lavish tapestry which depicted an ancient Calatian military victory, peering at it over the rims of his rectangular glasses as he leaned in for a closer look. "I don't recognize the enemy uniforms," he said. He glanced back at her. "Though, I will admit I'm a bit rusty in my Calatian history; my people first came to this continent during the Oocca War when the last Emperor hired my father to defend the capital."

Zelda gave him a small, amused smile. "I don't recognize the uniforms, either," she said. "And I've passed this tapestry dozens of times." She leaned in for a closer look herself. "If you are that curious, we could ask the court historian."

Horys glanced around to make sure no one was within earshot. "Seems like the poor fellow has quite a few battles to keep track of, doesn't he?"

Zelda nodded. "Calatia has a history of expanding by conquering and absorbing its neighbors."

Horys frowned. "Your uncle is certainly continuing the tradition, isn't he? I get the impression he isn't going to stop until he rules the entire continent."

Zelda smiled wryly. "Why stop there?"

Horys smiled back, chuckling lightly.

His violet eyes darted around the corridor momentarily, and when he was sure they were alone, his smile vanished. "Do you sense anything?" he asked, abruptly serious.

Zelda shook her head, equally serious. "Nothing strong enough to determine its location. Whoever this sorcerer is, he's very good at avoiding detection."

Horys' brows drew together concernedly. "I thought there weren't any mages in Calatia. Who could he be hiding from?"

"Me, in all likelihood," Zelda replied. "Hylians, the Royal Family in particular, have always been very attuned to the currents of magic. Humans wouldn't know anything was happening, but even an untrained Hylian would be able to sense something as powerful as what I felt last night."

"What do you think he's doing?"

"Whatever it is, it's making him very angry; I sensed powerful rage in whatever spell was being woven last night, and also pain, though it may not have been his."

Horys' eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

"Users of dark magic sometimes require a… sacrifice," Zelda said. "Certain spells require more power than some mages are capable of providing on their own, so some are known to use a victim, whose life force they drain to power whatever it is they are doing."

"What kind of spell would necessitate something like that?" Horys asked, revulsion coloring both his tone and his expression.

"I do not know," Zelda replied. "Majacen seemed reluctant to tell me. He only described what sort of magic I should watch for during our time here."

She was about to explain further, but at that moment, a colorfully-liveried servant rounded the corner at the end of the hall and headed right for them.

"His Imperial Majesty requests the honor of your company at the royal opera, Your Highness," the servant said. "If you would please follow me, I will provide you with appropriate attire."

Zelda smiled graciously. "We would be delighted," she said, gesturing for the servant to lead the way.

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Zelda and Horys were shown into the Emperor's private box at the royal opera house, built nearly five hundred years ago after the previous building had burned down during a performance gone spectacularly wrong.

The royal colors of red, white, gold and black were on prominent display in the building's décor, which featured tremendous, sweeping backdrop paintings from previous performances, huge marble statues of previous Emperors who had been generous patrons, and busts of celebrated actors and musicians who had performed here in centuries past.

As they ascended the grand staircase to the upper levels, Zelda glanced over at Horys. He seemed uncomfortable in his stiff formal clothes, though, to tell the truth, Zelda herself was not fond of the outfit which had been provided for her, either.

The crimson-and-gold gown she wore was just tight enough to be uncomfortable, and also cut rather lower than she preferred. But, nothing she'd brought with her in the _Phoenix_ was quite formal enough, according to the servant who had rejected her first choice.

The royal guards stood aside as Zelda and Horys entered the Emperor's box, resuming their positions once the doors were closed.

Inside, the box was plush and almost entirely scarlet, from the deep, almost blood-colored wood of the tables to the bright, sumptuously cushioned chairs and the uniforms of the pair of servants who stood at attention at the rear of the box.

The Emperor sat in one of the chairs, his garb so rich it was almost garish, his gleaming crown sparkling in the dim light of the lamps, turned down for the beginning of the performance. Next to him sat a pale, dark-haired man dressed in black and wine-dark red, his hair pulled back into a severe ponytail at his neck and shiny, as if oiled.

Zelda's uncle looked up as she and Horys approached and smiled broadly. "Zelda, my dear, you look radiant!" he said genially. "I'm so pleased you decided to join us."

"Of course, Uncle," Zelda said, giving him a smile she did not feel. Something about his companion bothered her, but she couldn't put her finger on it quite yet.

"Please, sit down," said the Emperor, gesturing to the seats next to him. "I think you'll enjoy this performance, my dear; it's based on the siege of the capital in the war that your mother and I fought in."

Zelda took the seat next to her uncle, glancing down at the stage, which had been set up with a red castle wall at one end, on which paced several actors dressed in Calatian military uniforms.

"This is Ibnis, one of my advisors," said her uncle, gesturing to the pale man.

"I am pleased to meet you, Your Grace," the man said. He had an exotic accent Zelda did not recognize, but from the subtle squeeze Horys gave her hand, she realized he did.

"Likewise," Zelda replied, smiling politely.

"Katarina is with our daughter," the Emperor said. "She sends her apologies for not being able to be with us tonight."

"Please tell the Empress I missed her," Zelda said with another diplomatic smile. Horys's fingers twitched against hers, silently letting her know his amusement at the polite lie.

The lights in the cavernous main hall dimmed over the audience, signaling the start of the performance. Zelda watched as a tall, bearded man wearing rough traveling clothes covered with a coarse brown cloak ascended the stairs on the mock-up of the city wall, approaching one of the soldiers. The spotlights focused on the two of them.

The soldier sang about how cold and lonely patrols on the city walls at night were, and how he feared that his beloved city was in peril from the forces of darkness. The taller man replied in a powerful baritone that it was true they would be greatly outnumbered, but that it was honorable to fight anyway. Zelda realized as she peered closer at the bearded man's costume that he was meant to be Arnak, Lynaka and Erike's father.

Her thoughts drifted to her friends, and what had happened to them on their journey back in time. They were certainly back by now; it had been days since they had all parted company at the Heavenly Vault. Had they found what they were looking for, a solution to the Blood Curse and a defense against the dark magic of their enemies?

Onstage, several of the soldiers suddenly cried out with overdramatic screams of pain as they toppled backward off the wall onto cleverly hidden mats on the stage below. 'Arnak' drew his sword, and a loud clang resounded out, meant to symbolize him blocking an arrow that had been about to hit his companion, as the real Arnak had done at the actual battle. The music suddenly swelled in alarm, and 'Arnak' shouted that they were under attack.

Dozens of actors dressed as various monsters surged out onto the other end of the stage, brandishing their weapons and bellowing fiercely. One, dressed in Darknut armor, sang in a baritone even deeper than that of 'Arnak' that there was nothing the Calatians could do to defend against the mighty armies of Lord Raneses; he would give them a chance to surrender now, as long as their Emperor swore fealty to the Dark Lord.

A dashingly handsome actor appeared on the wall next to 'Arnak', dressed in full plate armor, sans helmet, with the symbol of the Imperial Family emblazoned on his breastplate. He defiantly called down that there would be no surrender. He challenged the armies of the Dark Lord to do their worst; Calatia would fight to the last man against them.

"He's meant to be my uncle," Zelda whispered to Horys. Lowering her voice even further, she murmured, "This didn't actually happen; there was no call for surrender at the real battle."

On stage, the actor meant to be her uncle as a young man, when he was still a Grand Duke, turned to 'Arnak' and asked him if he would fight as a brother with him in defense of the city. 'Arnak' replied in his powerful baritone that he would use his full power in the fight. As he sang the verse about how he would aid the Calatians, 'Arnak' raised his right hand, upon which a Triforce symbol was painted in gold that glittered under the stage lights.

The 'Grand Duke' called for them to lead a charge against the enemy, to buy time while their reinforcements arrived. In actuality, this had been Arnak's idea, but Zelda could already tell this performance was geared more to satisfy the Emperor's ego than anything else; of course he would suggest it in the performance, instead of objecting to it like he had at the real battle.

"Raneses' strategy was careless here," Ibnis suddenly said from the Emperor's other side. "He should have sent in his flying fortress first, to besiege the city from the air instead of wasting thousands of troops in a ground invasion. He was innovative, but not innovative enough; it's why he lost the war."

"We would have still prevailed anyway," the Emperor said, confident to the point of arrogance. "We chose our allies well."

"Why, thank you, Uncle," said Zelda, keeping any trace of sarcasm out of her voice, though she would have preferred to leave it in. Of course they had; the Triforce Bearers and the rest of the Hero's Company had turned the tide of the battle, keeping it from becoming a complete rout until the reinforcements arrived. If not for them and the Balacruf air fleet, the vastly outnumbered Calatians would have been conquered like so many other nations around the world.

On stage, 'Arnak' and the 'Grand Duke' rode actual horses out onto the stage along with about a dozen others, charging into the midst of the enemy formation amidst a thunderous, heroic swell of music. In this performance at least, 'Arnak' and the 'Grand Duke' seemed equally skilled, mowing down enemies in almost equal numbers as they hacked and slashed with their gleaming weapons. Zelda noted with mild disgust that the actors were actually striking the 'monsters' with their weapons, though it didn't appear as if anyone had been hurt.

The performance went on, featuring carefully staged and choreographed pyrotechnics meant to simulate bombing runs by both the flying fortress--represented onstage by a tremendous, intricately detailed model that was rigged to move from one end of the stage to another--and the airships of Viserys' fleet, which were also represented by enormous models with actual turning propellers.

"We're close to developing airships of our own, you know," the Emperor commented to Zelda as one of the models toppled to the stage in a spectacular--and hopefully intentional--crash. "We've been studying the wreckage from one of the destroyed vessels that landed in the city for more than twenty years, trying to unlock its secrets, since Viserys refuses to share his technology with anyone else."

Zelda could only nod at the surprising news. Horys' father had not shared his airship technology with anyone other than Hyrule because he did not want it turned against him; as long as he and his allies retained the advantage air superiority provided, their victories were assured. An ambitious ruler like Belakar XIII, given his own air fleet, just might decide to turn on his supposed 'allies' if he thought he could prevail.

For the rest of the performance, Zelda barely saw what was happening on stage. Instead, an entirely different drama was playing out in her imagination; she saw, as if in a vision, vast fleets of airships in Calatian colors crewed by tiny figures in the black-and-purple uniforms of the Divine Host. In her vision, the Emperor stood on the command platform of the leading airship, a malignant grin on his face as he ordered his fleet to open fire.

The perspective pulled back, and Zelda realized with shock that the Calatians' target was none other than Hyrule Castle. Her home erupted in flame and smoke, towers ponderously collapsing under the relentless barrage. The view switched back to the Emperor laughing triumphantly, with Ibnis at his side, except that the pale, dark-haired man wore the intricately brocaded black-and-purple robes of a Divine Host sorcerer.

In the vision, Ibnis turned to look directly at her, and so suddenly that it startled her, the images of destruction and conquest disappeared, to be replaced with the sumptuous opera house. Ibnis was still staring directly at her, his dark eyes narrowing as if in suspicion.

Horys touched her arm. "Zelda?" he asked, a note of concern in his voice. "Are you all right?"

Zelda abruptly stood, glad for the excuse to leave. "No," she said. "I'm afraid I'm starting to get quite a bad headache. Please excuse me, Uncle."

The Emperor nodded distractedly, still fixated on the depiction of his past glory. On stage, 'Arnak' and the 'Grand Duke' were charging again and again into the enemy formation, who reacted with exaggerated panic as they fled.

When they were safely outside, down the stairs, and on their way through a covered passageway back to the palace, Zelda gripped her fiancé's arm. "Ibnis is the sorcerer," she said. "I'm certain of it."

Horys nodded. "So what do we do?"

Zelda frowned helplessly. "He knows that I know, too." She paused. "In fact, I realized it far too quickly, considering that he has been hiding himself from me for the last…"

She trailed off as realization came over her. Ibnis' eyes hadn't been narrowed in suspicion; his expression had been one of concentration! He had been projecting the vision to her on purpose!

But what could projecting a vision of her uncle conquering Hyrule, allied with the Divine Host, possibly achieve?

Horys knew well enough not to interrupt her train of thought as she pondered this on the way back to their suite in the palace.

* * *

Everyone in the throne room of Hyrule Castle stared at the Bearer of Power, who had just pulled back his hood to reveal the infamous face of none other than Ganondorf. More than one hand went to a weapon.

The former Hero, Lord Fenris, _did_ draw his sword, angrily marching across the rubble-strewn carpet to place the point of his sword on the collarbone of an unresisting Ganondorf. "What are you doing here?" Link snarled between clenched teeth. "And how did you get a piece of the Triforce again?"

Ganondorf's face twisted into a sneer. "Would you really like to know, or would you prefer to just kill me? That seems to be your usual solution when we meet, doesn't it?"

Erike waited with her hand on the hilt of her scimitar, waiting to spring to the former Hero's aid if Ganondorf attacked him. She was only paces away.

Lynaka, frowning, walked over to stand next to the two men. "I give you my word as the Hero that this man is not here to cause any destruction or harm to any of the residents of this city. For this battle at least, his interests and ours are aligned."

Ganondorf continued to stare down impassively into the eyes of the man who had caused one of his deaths, his thick arms crossed over his chest and away from any of the numerous weapons he wore in layers of crisscrossing bandoliers and belts. "She speaks the truth," he said.

Lord Fenris did not remove his sword from its position. "Explain yourself," he said very slowly, as if fighting to keep his anger in control.

"Yes, both you and your wife did indeed kill me," Ganondorf said with a trace of dark amusement. "Your son attempted to carry on the family tradition when we first met, but cooler heads prevailed and he saw reason." He flicked a contemptuous glance down at the sword point resting on his collar, and Link reluctantly lowered it. "My death at Midna's hands proved not to be permanent, as with each of my previous deaths. I can only conclude that a higher power is indeed looking out for me."

Ganondorf's face twisted into a particularly ironic smirk at this, intriguing Erike's curiosity. There was hidden meaning in that statement, but he didn't seem inclined to explain it at this time.

"To give you the short version, I was reborn to a people called the Sea Gerudo who live in a world parallel to this one called Termina. I regained my memories from my previous incarnations when I acquired the Triforce of Power, but unlike then, I do not seek to conquer Hyrule."

The reborn Dark Lord gestured at Lynaka and Erike. "As I have learned, my last conquest did manage to benefit my people, though not in the way I intended. The Gerudo are no longer in danger of dying out, nor are they forced to remain in the harshest parts of the desert in order to survive. They are at peace with the Hylians, allied with them even, so I no longer see the need to remove you from your country so that they may possess it instead."

Ganondorf took a step past the former Hero, deliberately presenting him with his back. "Now that we have wasted more than enough time, let us return to the task at hand; ridding this city of its invaders."

Arnak let out a short, incredulous laugh. "Do you expect us to trust you now, simply because you say that we must?"

Ganondorf glanced over at Erike's father. "No," he said simply. "You would be foolish to take my words at face value. Judge me instead by my actions. I will make sure that the Hero is with me at all times to ensure that you have no further cause for mistrust."

Queen Zelda had been intently staring at Ganondorf since he had revealed his face. Finally she sighed, an annoyed sound. "He speaks the truth," she said, as if she did not want to believe her own perceptions.

"Thank you," said Ganondorf. "Now," he continued, clapping his hands together decisively, "I am going to go aid Daskin and Majacen in eliminating the enemy leadership. You may all accompany me if you wish, but it would be most wise if the former Bearers of Courage and Power," he gestured to Link and Arnak, "remained here to protect the Queen. She is their target this day."

Arnak slowly sheathed his Goron-made greatsword and walked over to take up position on the steps just below the Queen. "I will remain here," he said. He looked down at Lynaka. "Be cautious," he warned. "You cannot imagine what this man is capable of."

Ganondorf seemed amused at this, but he said nothing.

Erike stared at him curiously; she could definitely see the resemblance to the portraits that hung in the council chamber, but he seemed closer to the original portrait, the one made for his coronation, than the one made later after he conquered Hyrule. Was Ganondorf truly fighting on their side here, or did he still have his own, hidden agenda?

Lynaka saw Erike staring at Ganondorf, and she quietly approached, one hand on the Master Sword at her hip. "I can hardly believe it myself, sister," she said. She leaned closer. "But you must keep in mind that although only a day has passed for you, from my perspective, it has been more than a year since I left. Ganondorf has been our companion for many months, and in that time, I have learned much about him. He still keeps some things to himself, but I am confident he does not intend to betray us."

Erike looked over at her older sister in surprise. "A year?" she said.

Lynaka nodded, her shortened hair moving with the movement. "At least," she replied. "I will tell you what happened in full, when our task here is done."

Her sister took a step away, then paused and cocked her head, one hand held out in front of Erike to signal that she should remain still.

A moment later, Erike heard the noise herself; it sounded like a long, drawn-out curse, rapidly increasing in volume as the person drew closer.

"AAAAAAAAHHHH-- Ugh!" exclaimed a dark figure that careened into the throne room, landing heavily on the floor and rolling for several yards before finally stopping.

Erike looked over at Daskin as he slowly picked himself up, shaking his head as if to clear it. A substantial portion of his jacket and shirt had been burned away on his chest, the edges still smoking. As he got to his feet, the young man swept a hand over the hole, smearing soot across the contours of his muscles, which were oddly unharmed, considering the size of the hole. His fingers flashed as they moved across his chest, making Erike suspect he had spelled himself with some kind of personal shield.

He snorted irritably. "I liked this shirt," he said indignantly. Daskin flashed them both a brilliant smile as he looked over at them. "Hello, ladies!" he said cheerfully. With a quick movement, he yanked away the remains of his shirt and jacket, tossing them away.

Lynaka smiled amusedly. "Any excuse to take your shirt off," she said teasingly.

Daskin grinned. "Hey, I worked hard to get these muscles," he said lightly, quickly flexing his biceps. "If I get a chance to show 'em off, I'm gonna take it." He paused for a moment. "Say, you haven't seen an ugly, overdressed fellow with glowing eyes around here in the last few minutes, have you? I've got some unfinished business with him."

Lynaka wordlessly gestured to the sky above the balcony. Erike and Daskin turned to look at the same time and spotted the hovering shape.

"Thanks!" Daskin called over his shoulder as he flew up at the sorcerer, drawing his sword on the way.

As Erike watched, the young man dodged a blast of blue energy that spewed forth from the sorcerer's hands, rocketing straight at him. The sorcerer tried to dodge Daskin's charge, but the young man was too fast; the sun flashed off his blade as he swung in a tight, deadly arc. Barely discernible at this range, the sorcerer's head toppled free from his body, and both plummeted to the ground far below.

Daskin came back, lightly touching down next to Lynaka and Erike. He nodded at Link. "Hey, Dad!" he called, waving with one hand. Link started towards them, smiling broadly.

He turned back to Lynaka. "That's two down, counting the one Majacen took out when we got here," he said.

"Three," Ganondorf corrected. "I killed a sorcerer just before you got here."

Daskin grinned. "Just one more to go, then," he said.

As if on cue, a burned husk, barely recognizable as having once been human, hurtled into the throne room, still on fire. The body impacted the wall with such force that it disintegrated into ash instantly, the remains spattering down onto the floor like grisly rain.

Daskin's mother floated lightly into the throne room, her long black robe billowing out behind her as she came in for a landing. "I hate those people," Midna said conversationally. "They're really starting to become annoying."

"That was the last of the sorcerers controlling this horde," said Ganondorf. "Now we have only to deal with the remaining soldiers."

"You go on ahead," Midna said without looking at him, heading straight for Link.

Daskin gestured toward the throne room's entrance with exaggerated urgency. "Let's go," he warned. "She hasn't seen him in a year; trust me, you don't want to see this."

Lynaka chuckled as she walked past him, reaching out to lightly punch his shoulder.

Erike followed her sister down the stairs, headed into the main keep to deal with the remains of the invading force.

* * *

Chasing down all the remaining Divine Host soldiers took most of the rest of the day, but when they were confident that the remnants had been dealt with and another attack was not imminent, the group headed for a bar on the south road of Castle Town Erike's father and Lord Fenris were fond of. Queen Zelda remained behind in the castle, and so did Ganondorf, who asked only that he be allowed a room to himself for the night. Lord Fenris insisted on posting guards outside, but Ganondorf acquiesced without complaint.

Erike's first surprise when the Hero's Company reunited was that Majacen was accompanied by a pregnant Gerudo woman, the swell of her belly indicating that she was quite far along, probably very close to delivery.

"This is Akima," Majacen said to Erike as the group descended the stairs to Telma's. "For reasons I will explain shortly, it is vital that both she and her child survive this war."

"Hello," the woman said politely. "It is a pleasure to meet you, sister of Lynaka." She spoke in Hylian, tinged with an accent with which Erike was not familiar. She was not from any part of the Gerudo Desert; that much was for sure.

Telma called a cheerful greeting to Link and Arnak, who were the first ones into the bar. Her eyebrows raised as the rest of them followed, and she chuckled jovially. "Brought the whole gang, huh?" she said. "How are you doing, honey?" she said to Akima. "Wait right here; I'll get you a better chair."

The bar was full but not crowded; all but a few tables were taken. They were not the only ones who wanted to celebrate the victory today. A bespectacled man of about forty-five or so made his way over to the tables Link and Arnak pushed together, smiling broadly at both men.

"I had a feeling the two of you would be here tonight," said Shad. "As far as I know, Ashei and Auru are still in the castle, helping the Queen get everything all organized again, but they may drop by later." He blinked as he looked around at all the rest of the group, as if just noticing them. He warmly greeted Midna and Majacen, nodding politely to the rest as he fetched a chair to bring over.

As they all sat down, Arnak looked over at his elder daughter. "So," he said as he leaned back in his chair. "You must have quite a tale for us."

Lynaka nodded from her seat between Daskin and Erike, glancing down the table at Majacen and Akima. She smiled, but her smile slowly faded as she reached up to brush the scar on her right cheek with a thumb. "Quite a tale," she agreed quietly. "Do you want to begin, Majacen?"

The wizard nodded, tugging at his beard. It was much shorter than Erike remembered, as was his hair, but both had reached about to the level of his shoulders; it was clear from the somewhat scruffy condition that he had not been able to trim either for the equivalent of several months.

Daskin tugged at the sleeve of his restored jacket; he'd done something to it when he retrieved it after the battle was over that repaired the hole, though he'd had to find a new shirt. When Erike had questioned him about it, he had merely replied, with a wink, that the jacket was not made of ordinary fabric.

He saw Erike looking at him and grinned, leaning over to drape his arm around Lynaka's shoulders. Her sister leaned into him and reached up to pat his hand with her own, looking comfortable and completely at ease, a welcome break from the strained tension of the battle.

Erike's face remained expressionless, but inwardly she was intrigued; apparently her sister and Lord Fenris' son had grown closer during their adventures through time. It was yet another surprise, and again Erike reminded herself that much more time had passed for them than for her.

It was startling to see all the changes in her sister; Lynaka was still recognizably herself, but _different_ somehow, not quite the same as she had been only yesterday from Erike's perspective. Again she wondered what her sister's group had been through on their sojourn through time.

But, Telma's Bar was warm and comfortable, the perfect atmosphere for stories passed back and forth across the table. As Majacen leaned forward to begin, Erike shifted in her seat, settling in to listen.

* * *

Author's Note: Apologies for the _extremely_ long delay. You can blame a truly epic bout of computer failure for my months-long absence from this site. But, I'm back online with a great new laptop, and I'm back to work on all my stories. Right now I'm focusing on finishing one of my Star Wars stories, '_One Missed Strike, Part III',_ but when that's done and posting, I'll get to work on the next chapter of this story.

Also, this chapter was originally a few pages longer, but I decided to postpone the tale of what happened to the time-travel group to the next chapter, where I can actually fit the whole thing instead of stopping halfway through it. So, you have that to look forward to. Thanks to Seldavia and Desteni for beta reading, and also to all of you who were excited when the notification for this appeared in your inbox and rushed right over to read. ;)

I promise, no more delays that long again. I'm about halfway through my outline at this point, which I estimate means around another twelve to fifteen chapters to go. Updates will be much quicker in the future now that I have a reliable computer for the first time in six months. Thanks for reading!


	14. Absolute Power

Fourteen

(Absolute Power)

Erike sat back in her chair in Telma's Bar, making herself comfortable as she waited for Majacen to begin the tale of what he and her sister had seen on their journey back through time with Daskin and Midna.

"When we arrived in the past," Majacen began, "we journeyed for several hours, intent on an oasis the Hero knew of not far from where we began. Fortunately, we encountered the Great King and his retinue almost immediately, and we were quickly accepted into his camp.

"Lynaka and I had to do most of the talking at first, as Daskin and Midna did not speak Gerudo, and certainly not the language as it was eighteen-hundred years ago, but they learned quickly. We spent four months with Raneses the Great as members of his camp before we finally encountered the Divine Host for the first time."

Arnak raised his brows in surprise. "They existed even back then?"

Majacen nodded. "The Divine Host has plagued the world for millennia. Fortunately, they often spend centuries, sometimes a millennium or more, keeping quiet and secretive. That they are openly marching in the Far South and even attacking Hyrule now can only mean that their dark master has some new purpose for them."

Arnak exchanged a glance with Link, and Erike saw in that glance that both men were concerned; if the Divine Host was no longer hiding itself, today's attack on the castle would certainly not be the last.

"We quickly learned something surprising," Majacen went on. "Raneses the Great was a Bearer of Power; in his time, the Triforce had been split when the King of Hyrule laid hands upon it in desperation, for the Royal Family was under attack by one of the Dark God's sorcerers. Wisdom went to the King, while Courage found its way to a young man from the outlying provinces named Jayko."

Daskin interrupted with an amused snort. "I know; I was expecting him to be named Link, myself," he said with a teasing glance at his father.

Link chuckled as Midna nudged his arm with her elbow, smirking herself.

Majacen's dark green eyes twinkled in amusement within his lined face before he continued. "Raneses did not know what he had, but he used the powers his piece of the Triforce gave him to unite the tribes of the Gerudo under a single banner; his own. He became the first king of the united Gerudo nation roughly two years before we arrived, by my estimation. During our first few months with him, the Great King conquered most of what is now southern Lanayru Province, including Lake Hylia. We observed several battles between the Gerudo and the Hyrule Army."

Lynaka looked over at her sister. "At this time, there were just as many Gerudo men as there were women," she said. She shook her head in amazement. "Raneses' army, made up of towering men as strong as boars and women fast and agile as panthers, was a sight I wish you could have seen, little sister," she said. "The Hylians could not stand against them, not even when their forces outnumbered the Gerudo."

Daskin nodded in agreement. "I've never seen so many men over seven feet tall in my life," he said, looking around the table. "To give you some perspective on how huge your average Gerudo man was, they thought _I_ was short. Majacen was practically a dwarf compared to the rest of them."

The wizard chuckled shortly. "After several battles in which Raneses the Great's forces thoroughly trounced the Hylians, we observed an event lost to history; the King of Hyrule secretly arranged to meet with Raneses, and brought the Hero with him. They quickly negotiated a peace when the King told Raneses of the threat the Divine Host presented to both their races; he offered to give the Gerudo free access to Lake Hylia and Hyrule's rivers if Raneses marshaled his forces to protect the Golden Kingdom's borders to the south and west. The Great King agreed, and went further, swearing an oath of blood brotherhood between himself, the King, and the Hero."

Erike raised her brows in surprise; a blood-brotherhood oath would have bound the three families of Raneses, the Royal Family of Hyrule, and the Hero Jayko's descendants as eternal allies, symbolically making them all part of one large clan. If the blood oath had been honored, history would have turned out much differently.

"The alliance was short-lived, however," Majacen went on. "Mere weeks later, a disciple of the Dark God, a sorcerer named Dra'Kul, slaughtered the entire Royal Family. Jayko fell defending them, but before he was killed, he managed to smuggle the King's youngest daughter out of the castle. She alone escaped the massacre, raised under the protection of my ancient predecessor as Wizard of the Goddesses.

"Dra'Kul showed himself in the Great King's camp, appearing before Raneses to offer him an alliance with the Divine Host; Dra'Kul said that if Raneses helped him and his forces overrun the last pockets of loyalists, he could have all of the territory he had conquered, plus what are now Faron and Ordona Provinces."

"Raneses had the sorcerer thrown out of the camp," Lynaka said with a distinct note of pride. "Not only that, he sent scouts out to find where the Divine Host was camped, and he attacked their main force. It was glorious," she said, one hand coming up to trace the scar on her cheek. "I acquired this during the battle, fighting at the side of the Great King, who led the charge himself."

Not for the first time, Erike wished she had accompanied her sister back through time. Just to see a battle like that would have been a privilege.

Daskin reached up to touch his own scar, three thin lines across his cheek just below his left eye. "The Divine Host archers were using triple-barbed arrows," he said. "And they must have been poisoned, too; I thought this would never stop bleeding."

"When the battle was over," said Majacen, "Dra'Kul appeared before Raneses again. He declared that for his treachery, he would lay a powerful curse upon the Gerudo people. Since their men were so proud and strong, able to defend their people from any threat, he would strip them away. From that day forward, only female children would be born to the Gerudo, but for every hundred years, when a single male would be born. This, said the sorcerer, was so that the death of the Gerudo people would be a long and slow one.

"As Dra'Kul said, since Raneses was so proud of his accomplishment of uniting the Gerudo into a single nation, his punishment for not aiding the Divine Host would be to watch that nation disintegrate, to be absorbed into the other races until no true Gerudo remained. As an example that only female children would be born from that point on, Dra'Kul killed Raneses' only son among his numerous children, a boy not yet three years of age.

"In a terrible rage, Raneses throttled the sorcerer with his bare hands, but as I sensed when the Great King wrung the life from Dra'Kul, the Dark God preserved the life of his disciple, preserving him to be reborn.

"Under the guidance of some of those skilled in magic under his command, Raneses the Great tried to use the Triforce of Power to remove the Blood Curse, but it was to no avail; the Curse had been laid upon his people by a power stronger than the Triforce; Dra'Kul used the power of the Dark God himself to curse the Gerudo, to ensure that his punishment could never be lifted.

"But, the Great King and his mages did succeed in modifying the Blood Curse so that the blood of Gerudo women would be exceptionally strong; any children born to them by outsiders would remain Gerudo during the century between male births. Thus," Majacen paused, gesturing to the pregnant woman who sat beside him, "it was through the efforts of the Great King and his mages that we were able to discern the method for breaking the Blood Curse."

Erike leaned forward in anticipation, awaiting the explanation.

"This woman," said Majacen, "carries within her a son of Raneses the Great, who, by an odd twist of fate made possible by time travel, is the grandson of another Raneses."

Erike saw Lord Fenris narrow his eyes slightly as he set down his mug. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Lynaka turned to him. "Akima is the daughter of Raneses IV," she explained. "She made the best candidate, since she was the first woman in a century to be fathered by a Gerudo male. Her blood is the purest Gerudo at this time."

"I did not know the Dark Lord fathered a daughter," said Arnak. "He seemed more intent on conquering than on his responsibilities as king."

"My father never learned of my existence," Akima said, speaking up for the first time. "He was defeated and killed before my mother could tell him that she was with child."

"Who was your mother?" Erike asked.

"A raider named Akame," the woman answered. "The Nameless One appointed her his second-in-command after he declared his kingship."

"I know of her," Erike said. "My mother thought she had been killed in the battle to retake the Hylians' capital."

"No," said Akima. "She left with the human warriors who had fought for my father, and raised me in their country. She did not tell me much about my father, only that he was an evil man and I should be careful not to allow myself to become like him. Ganondorf and Lynaka told me the rest."

"So, how is she going to break the Blood Curse?" asked Lord Fenris, leaning forward in his chair.

"Midna and I had the opportunity to study the Blood Curse as it was being cast," said Majacen. "Among its many intricacies was the necessary method for breaking it." He paused, looking around at the others. "Due to the inherently unnatural and sometimes unpredictable nature of magic, it is impossible to cast a completely unbreakable curse. Since few of you are learned in the ways of magic, I will not go into detail, but suffice to say that there is no way to structure something with magic so as to make it impenetrable by all other forms of magic.

"The Blood Curse is only sustained by the perfectly regular schedule of Gerudo male births. Every hundred years, one male is born, thus making it impossible for there to be a continuous line of kings. No Gerudo king has ever sired the next male in his line because of this, therefore there has never been a Gerudo male since Raneses the Great that was himself sired by a pureblooded Gerudo male."

Majacen held up one finger. "But, as Midna and I discovered through careful study of the way the Blood Curse is structured, the magic sustaining the Curse would dissolve if a Gerudo male sired by a Gerudo male is born in this realm and grows to adulthood to sire his own children."

Midna gestured down the table at Akima. "That's why it's so important that Akima and especially her son survive this war; the boy is the only way the Blood Curse can ever be broken."

"What of Ganondorf?" Erike asked. "Can the curse not be broken if his current incarnation has children?"

"No," Midna replied. "Even though he is Gerudo, he was born in Termina, a world parallel to this one. As far as the structure of the Curse would be concerned, he would be just another outsider male, and the Curse would ensure that any of his children born to Gerudo women would be female."

"This is a lot to take in," said Lord Fenris.

Daskin snorted. "Hey, I was there, Dad, and I _still_ don't understand it. Don't feel bad."

Link chuckled, amusement in his deep blue eyes as he glanced at his son.

"I will take responsibility for Akima," Arnak said, looking down the table at her. "I will keep her safe from the forces of the enemy while the rest of you continue on your quests."

"Thank you, Arnak," Akima said with a smile. "Despite what my father did to you…"

Arnak held up a hand, interrupting her. "You are not your father," he said. "You are a friend of my daughter, and thus my friend also. I will guard the lives of you and your child as if they were my own."

Lynaka smiled at her father. "_Thank you,_" she said in Gerudo.

"_Of course_," he replied in the same language.

Shad clapped his hands together once. "Well, I don't know about the rest of you," he said, "but that was quite a lot to take in, and I would like to write it all down, if I may." He turned to the wizard. "Majacen, if you do not mind, might I take advantage of this lull in the combat to write down your account of what you saw on your journey to the past? Until now, that era has been largely a mystery to historians."

"Certainly," Majacen replied. "If you will all excuse me?"

* * *

The group eventually split up to return to their respective quarters for the night. Erike followed her sister and Daskin on their way back to the castle, talking lightly with them as they walked along the cool, dim streets of Castle Town.

"So, you two are together now?" Erike asked as they entered the central square of the city, the stars twinkling overhead above the dim torches scattered around the square.

The water in the fountain glittered as they paused next to it. Daskin tossed a pebble into the fountain, and the sky's reflection in the water rippled with flickering light.

Lynaka nodded. "I… took the day the Blood Curse was cast very hard," she said quietly. "I knew it would happen, but Majacen forbid all of us from interfering in any way." She looked over at Daskin, smiling slightly at him as she took his hand. "He was there for me, and we decided that life was too short and unpredictable to ignore what we felt."

"_I am happy for you_," Erike said in Gerudo. "_He would make a good father for your daughters._"

"_I have to admit I haven't thought that far ahead yet,_" Daskin said in the same language, surprising Erike momentarily. "_But thank you._"

Erike let out a wryly amused sigh. "_I do not know if I am ever going to get used to all these changes,_" she said. She half-smiled as she reached out to touch the ends of Lynaka's not quite shoulder-length hair. "_What happened to your hair?_"

"_It was as a sign of mourning for the King's son,_" Lynaka replied, reaching up to touch her shortened mane herself. "_I cut my braid off at the very top when Dra'Kul killed him and cast the Blood Curse._"

Erike nodded; it was traditional for Gerudo warriors to cut their hair after an utter defeat, one that robbed them of all honor. Lynaka must have been filled with grief indeed to do such a thing.

"_Now we match_," Daskin said lightly, breaking the somber mood that threatened to fall then. He reached up to flip the ends of his own shoulder-length hair with one hand and grinned. "_She keeps telling me I ought to braid it, but I don't think I could pull it off._"

Erike gave him a small, amused smile. "_I agree_," she said. "_Very few men do not look ridiculous with long hair._"

Daskin took an exaggeratedly long time to show that he caught her meaning before he let out a comically outraged, "_Hey!"_

Erike laughed, a rare occurrence for her. Lynaka reached over to lightly punch her sister's shoulder as she, too, chuckled.

Lynaka's smile slowly faded as she looked up at the starry night sky. "_We won't have many moments like these_," she said somberly. "_The Divine Host is gathering its strength for an assault on the free kingdoms of the world, and they have more sorcerers within their ranks than all of our allies combined. I fear that we will not know peace for a very long time._"

"Such is the duty of those who must march to war," Erike said, finally switching back to Hylian. "We pit ourselves against chaos and death so that the ones we love do not have to."

Lynaka clasped Erike's shoulder warmly. "Well said, sister." She gestured up at the castle, the hilt of the Master Sword at her side gleaming in the moonlight. "Now, let's go and get some rest while we still can."

* * *

At the top of one of the towers of Hyrule Castle, Queen Zelda quietly made her way to the room given to Ganondorf, accompanied only by her ever-present Sheikah bodyguard.

"Enter," his deep voice said before her hand even touched his door to knock.

The Queen opened the door of the small, austere room, not quite a cell. It was, fittingly, the same chamber in which he had once imprisoned her when his puppet Zant had invaded her kingdom twenty-six years ago.

Ganondorf stood with his hands clasped behind his back, gazing down at the castle and the city beyond through the chamber's large window. He wore none of his weapons; his numerous belts, baldrics and bandoliers sat in an organized pile next to the bed.

"I know why you've come," he said without turning to face her.

"Then you must know what I am about to say," Queen Zelda replied seriously.

The big man's shoulders tensed slightly, and though she could not see his face, the Queen sensed that he wore a wry smile. "You are still concerned that I have designs on your throne."

"You must admit that I am justified in my concerns, considering your past actions," Queen Zelda said, walking slowly to stand next to him at the window.

Ganondorf let a short, wry snort, almost amused. "Past actions," he echoed. "Do you know I was not much older than your daughter when I first conquered Hyrule? A hard life in the desert and my own dabblings in dark magic made me appear older, but I was really not far past my twentieth year the first time I invaded your country. A boy, really, too caught up with dreams of my own grandeur to realize what I was truly doing."

He looked over at her finally, his fierce, almost feral amber eyes meeting her own. "I have spent more than a century paying for the actions of my youth, for my tumble into darkness. I have spent decades on end trapped in the void, with nothing to do but reflect on my choices."

Ganondorf looked back out of the window at the white spires of the castle, gleaming in the starlight. "Revenge on those who had trapped me there dominated my thoughts for longer than most beings ever live. When I was finally able to fashion myself a body again after being sent to the Twilight Realm, when I could finally walk the world as a man once more, I was so consumed by hate for you and your ancestors that I could think only of conquest, of pain and darkness wrought upon those who had wrought it upon me."

"And now?" Queen Zelda inquired.

Ganondorf met her eyes again, and to her surprise, she saw no malice or anger there. "Now," he said, "I have no need of revenge. As I said to you earlier, my people no longer suffer in the harshest parts of the desert. They are no longer paying the consequences for what I have done. I have no need of hate, except toward those that wrought the greatest suffering of all upon my people."

"The Divine Host," the Queen said with understanding.

One corner of Ganondorf's mouth lifted in a small smile. "My enemies are now also yours. Despite our actions in the past, our goals are now aligned. It is… curious, the path upon which Fate leads us."

"I do not trust you," the Queen said bluntly.

Ganondorf's smile faded. "Nor should you," he said, turning to look out of the window again. "As I do not trust you."

"How were you resurrected this time?" Queen Zelda asked. "The Triforce of Power was no longer in your possession; its energies could not protect you or preserve you against the death of your body."

"Another time," Ganondorf said. "I do not wish to speak of it now."

"Your wishes do not concern me," the Queen snapped. "You will tell me, or I will have you thrown into my dungeons."

Ganondorf let out a sharp, sarcastic laugh. "Milady, I am the Bearer of Power," he said scornfully. "Do you truly think you can stop me from doing anything I wish to do?"

Without warning, he shot out a hand and grasped the front of her gown just below her throat, bunching the material in his fist, not tight enough to be painful, but startling nonetheless. Her bodyguard leaped in to defend her, but with a contemptuous wave of Ganondorf's other hand, the man froze in mid-leap, his gloved hand still on his partially drawn sword.

"I have told you that I mean you and your country no harm at this time," Ganondorf said through clenched teeth. "Now, 'Your Majesty', you may either accept my help, and benefit from the powers at my command, or you can banish me from your presence, and I will continue my mission on my own, without you. An alliance with you is beneficial to both of us at this time, but if you make it otherwise, I have no qualms with abandoning your kingdom to its fate."

He released her with a shove that sent the Queen back a step. "If you wish to send me from this place, then do so. Otherwise, accept that I am your ally for now and leave me be."

With as much dignity as she could muster, Queen Zelda smoothed the front of her gown, coldly furious.

"If you show even the _slightest_ indication of intent to betray us," the Queen hissed dangerously, "I will _end_ you. Permanently."

With a flick of her wrist and a tug of her powers, Queen Zelda drew a dagger from one of the belts piled in the corner of the room and sent it flying across the room with blinding speed. Moving too fast for even Ganondorf to react, it lightly grazed his neck, drawing no more than a single drop of blood before slamming into the wall with enough force to bury the blade all the way up to the hilt.

She turned and swept out of the room, freeing her bodyguard along the way, and pulled the man along for a few steps until they were both out and the door was closed behind them.

"Triple his guard," the Queen snapped, marching down the stairs to the central keep.

* * *

Princess Zelda sat pensively in one of the plush chairs of her suite in the Calatian royal palace, thinking of her encounter with Ibnis at the opera last night.

Why would he have shown her a vision of her uncle conquering Hyrule with the Divine Host, himself at the Emperor's side wearing the robes of a sorcerer?

What possible reason could he have to, in essence, give away their plans to the heir to the throne of the country they were about to conquer? Obviously, her first action would be to warn her mother.

Unless…

Unless that was exactly what they wanted her to do.

If they wanted her mother and the Hylian military to be on the alert for an attack from one of their supposed allies, it may be that this was a distraction from something else, some larger offensive the Divine Host was about to make and did not want Hyrule knowing about.

Zelda heard a soft knock at the door, and she looked up. She could sense Ibnis, no longer even bothering to try and hide his powers from her, outside.

"May I speak to you, Your Grace?" the dark man's voice said through the door.

Impa appeared as if from nowhere and walked over to stand next to the door. Silently, she fixed a questioning look upon Zelda, who nodded just as silently. Impa moved aside, soundlessly pulling one of her daggers from its sheath on her belt as she tucked herself behind the enormous dresser that took up most of one wall of the luxurious room.

"Enter," Zelda said, taking a moment to reinforce her mental shields. She certainly didn't want the sorcerer catching her off guard again.

The door opened, and Ibnis strode in, dressed in another relatively plain robe of black and dark red. His long black hair was oiled down and pulled back away from his face in a tight ponytail at his neck. His dark eyes fixed on her, sharp as swords, but he had a smile on his face, oddly disturbing in its friendliness.

"Thank you for allowing me an audience, Your Grace," Ibnis said, crossing to one of the other chairs. "I assure you, I mean you no harm. There is no need for your bodyguard to conceal herself behind the wardrobe over there."

"Impa is always concerned for my safety," Zelda said, adopting a diplomatic smile. "No matter where we find ourselves."

Impa gracefully emerged from her place of concealment and moved over to stand next to Zelda. She did not put away her dagger.

"What may I do for you, Ibnis?" Zelda asked.

"No doubt you are wondering at the significance of what I showed you at the opera last night," the sorcerer said with a languid smile, his accent giving an oddly hypnotic shape to his words.

"I admit that I am," Zelda replied. "Does my uncle have designs on my mother's kingdom?"

Ibnis surprised her with his answer. "Yes, he does. He intends to conquer Hyrule and absorb it into the Calatian Empire as he and his ancestors have done with so many other countries."

"Why are you telling me this?" Zelda asked. "You realize I must be more loyal to the kingdom of my mother than my father's homeland."

Ibnis smiled again. "Are you?"

Zelda allowed a frown through her diplomatic mask. "What do you mean?"

Ibnis gestured to her with one hand. "You are young, but you have a maturity about you that some do not achieve until much later in life. It is a… useful trait in royalty. Too often, the men and women that sit upon the thrones of this world are little more than children, unable to handle being the center of so much attention and wielding so much power. A life of privilege, not doing any real work for themselves, softens the wealthy and powerful, until the concerns of their subjects are not real to them, are problems beneath their attention."

The sorcerer leaned forward. "Forgive my bluntness, Your Grace, but you are so far above your dimwitted uncle and his brats that it surprises me that the heir to the throne and yourself share a grandfather."

"I am sure my uncle would not be pleased to hear you speak of him and his children this way," Zelda said, trying to discern his intent here.

"But you share my opinion, do you not?" Ibnis said, leaning back in his chair. "Your mother has groomed you your entire life to one day sit upon her throne, and you are ready to rule a country by yourself already. Do you know what your cousin Belakar does with his time? He seems intent upon… privately visiting every maiden that catches his eye. He already has a large number of illegitimate children, and he has not yet reached his thirtieth year. The man who will someday rule this country is lazy, lecherous, and stupid. He will be an even worse tyrant than his father."

"Again, I must question why you would tell me this," said Zelda.

Ibnis leaned forward until his long ponytail slid over his shoulder, interlacing his fingers as he rested his forearms on his knees. "Because I can offer you an alternative to a tyrant for a future ally," he said. "You and your future husband can rule this empire _and_ Hyrule. Surely the Bearer of Wisdom would make a more beneficial ruler for the majority of the world than a fool who chases every skirt he sees and cannot even lift a sword."

"And what price would you exact for arranging this?" Zelda asked, privately horrified.

"My master would ask only that he and his followers be left in peace within our kingdoms," Ibnis replied. "Your fiancé's father is busily conquering the Far South, as you call it, to forge an empire for his own people, but he and his Hyrulian allies have marched too far. He holds enough territory now for his subjects to flourish and become a real power on your continent, but he has begun to conquer ancient cities that have belonged to my people since the beginning of history."

"And who is your master?" Zelda inquired, half-expecting him not to answer.

"My master has given up his name," Ibnis replied. "To honor our god, he who also does not reveal his name, all leaders of our people do this."

He met her eyes, and it seemed to Zelda as he spoke that the dark circles of his irises expanded outward until the whole of his eyes were black as oblivion as he spoke. Along with his words came the sense of a tremendous will exerting pressure on her mind, compelling her to obey and agree.

"You have been lied to about my master's Master, the one you call the Dark God. You know nothing about the ancient war between the gods, only what falsehoods the victors spun to keep their mortal subjects under their heels. A cage made of gold is a cage nonetheless."

Zelda's mental shields flickered and faltered. She seemed frozen, unable to cry out or change her expression, anything to let Impa know what was going on. She was trapped, being dragged by a tremendous black hand into a choking dark abyss, a prison for her mind.

"You can wield real power, Zelda," Ibnis went on. "With the power the Divine Host can offer you, you can be more powerful than any individual in the history of the world. You already bear one third of the Triforce; we can seize the other two and give them to you. You will be the most powerful being in existence next to the gods themselves, and none could stand in your way."

Zelda struggled violently against the mental assault, trying to scream but unable to move. She felt her control over her own body slipping, as if her very soul was being ripped away.

"Two empires…" she heard herself saying, sounding as if she was giving the matter serious consideration. "I could do much good if I were in control of the two most powerful nations in the world, with the entire Triforce under my control. I could finally put an end to all the injustice and suffering wrought by wicked men and their followers."

_That's not me!_ Zelda tried to scream, but the words would not leave her throat. _Help me, please! Anyone!_

"What say you?" Ibnis asked, his voice maddeningly calm. "Will you pledge yourself to the Dark God in exchange for power beyond any mortal dream?"

Zelda felt her face shift into an avaricious smile. "I will," she heard her voice say.

And with that, the crushing black abyss swallowed her mind and dragged her away, and she knew no more.

* * *

Horys grinned to himself, shifting his fingers around the bouquet of flowers he had hidden behind his back. He knew Zelda was troubled, and he thought some blue roses, her favorite, might cheer her up for at least a little while.

As he approached his fiancée's suite of rooms, he passed the dark man in black-and-red robes he and Zelda had seen at the opera last night. The man looked over at him without expression, merely glancing at him for the briefest of instants before moving on.

Horys gave him no further thought as he approached Zelda's room. In fact, all memory of Ibnis' passing faded from his mind, as if he had never noticed the man at all.

With the bouquet behind his back, Horys raised a hand and knocked on the door of Zelda's suite.

"Come in," he heard her say. Her bodyguard Impa opened the door to let him inside.

Horys noted as he passed her that Impa's posture seemed stiffer than usual, lacking its usual panther-like grace as she stepped aside, taking up position next to the door.

Zelda smiled delightedly as he approached and with a flourish, produced the blue roses. "My favorites!" she said. "Thank you!"

Horys paused for an instant; something seemed wrong here. Zelda seemed… off, somehow, not quite herself. Her smile seemed ever so slightly artificial.

"Are you all right?" he asked her.

Zelda crossed to a vase sitting on a low table and set the bouquet inside. She looked back at him. "I'm fine," she said. "Why?"

Horys' eyes flicked to Impa again, who stood completely motionless next to the door, staring straight ahead, as if she were nothing more than a statue.

"Are you sure?" he said. He felt the fine hairs on the back of his neck begin to stand up, as if a static charge ran through his whole body. Something was definitely not right here.

"I'm fine," Zelda said again, with a reassuring laugh. "I just had a bad headache last night, but it's gone now."

Horys peered at her curiously. Something seemed strange about Zelda, like if he looked at her from the corner of his eye he would see something different, something… darker.

Zelda's smile abruptly vanished. She strode rapidly towards him, and as she did so, it seemed to Horys as if a deep violet light was hidden behind her eyes.

She moved so quickly that he did not realize her intent until her hand was already around his neck, squeezing tightly. He choked, struggling against her, but she was too strong, much stronger than he ever would have thought her.

Horys felt his feet leaving the floor, and black spots swarmed around the edges of his vision. Still he struggled, but he felt his life draining away. He choked, his mind straining to understand what was going on, why she would do this to him.

Zelda's eyes were locked on his own, the part that had formerly been white now a solid obsidian black, while her irises and pupils were now a brightly glowing violet. Her gaze seemed to bore into his own, until he could not look away no matter how hard he tried.

Horys felt himself sliding away down an endless black abyss, no longer in control of his own body.

He saw, as if from a great distance away, Zelda drop him, and his body sprawl on the rich red carpet, gasping for breath.

But suddenly, he felt himself stand up and breathe normally. "So, would you like to join me for breakfast?" he heard his voice ask pleasantly, as if nothing had just happened.

Zelda's eyes faded back to their normal color, though the violet light still seemed to be hidden just beneath the surface. "Certainly," she replied just as pleasantly. "While we eat, I have something we need to talk about. My uncle's advisor Ibnis made me a very interesting proposal…"

* * *

Author's Note: Dun dun dun... ;) I apologize for yet another long delay, but I was occupied with finishing up one of my other stories and various other offline matters. However, now that I have more free time, I have shifted the primary focus of my writing back to this story, so updates should be much more frequent for a while.

In other news, today marks one year since I posted the first chapter of this story, and three years since the first chapter of its predecessor, _'The Fourth Piece'_. Thanks for reading!


	15. Impossible

Fifteen

(Impossible)

A great, thunderous echo reverberated through the magnificent, ethereal halls of the Celestial Palace, the dwelling place of the gods.

Immortal ears picked up the sound, and through their deep connections to the fabric of the universe, the twenty remaining gods knew their former brother had come to the Eternal Halls, along with eight of the nine who had followed him in his rebellion; one was trapped forever alone on another plane of existence as punishment for changing her mind about joining the rebellion.

The tremendous Celestial Palace, larger than any mortal construction, actually shook with the force of the Dark God's power as he made his presence known and demanded the presence of his fellow immortals.

Link Fenris I, the Hero of Lightning, looked up from the chessboard upon which he was playing a game with the Bearer of Wisdom he had known in his time in the mortal realms, Queen Zelda II of the Nohansen dynasty. Zelda met his eyes over the chessboard, and by silent, mutual agreement, they rose from the table on one side of the great Hall of Wisdom and moved, along with dozens of their fellow former Triforce Bearers, to the throne room of the Golden Goddesses, where the gods had gathered.

Inside the luminous room, wrought to mortal senses in white stone with enormous, ever-bright windows, the circle of thirty thrones was filled by the twenty remaining gods, with the Three on their slightly raised chairs at the rear of the tremendous chamber.

Raven-haired Din, Goddess of Power, was the only one of the Three on her feet, the Hero of Lightning saw, her rich brown eyes filled with fury. Her golden armor gleamed beneath her loose red robes, which shifted angrily in an unfelt wind. Her furious gaze was directed at the dark-robed figure who stood placidly a few steps in front of the three-seated throne she shared with her sisters.

Link's own eyes narrowed as he realized the figure could be none other than the Dark God, and the similarly dark figures around him were his rebellious followers. According to what the former Hero knew, these nine beings had not set foot in these halls for several thousand years by mortal reckoning.

"_**What are you doing here?**_" Din demanded, her voice rumbling with a supernaturally furious echo. Link winced at the painfully loud sound of the Goddess of Power's voice.

"_**I have come to talk,**_" the Dark God replied, his deep voice roaring with a thunderous echo just as powerful as Din's. "_**Neither I nor my followers will initiate violence here today, unless we are attacked.**_"

Din's glare faded, but only slightly. "Very well," she said her rich voice fading back to its normal levels. She left just enough of the almost subliminal rumble in to make her displeasure at seeing her enemies here readily apparent. "Speak quickly, and do not foul my home with your presence any longer than necessary."

Link could not see the Dark God's face within his hood, but the glowing purple eyes beneath the cowl gave a sense that he sneered. "Believe me," he said, allowing almost all of the rumble to fade from his own voice, "I find your presence just as distasteful as you find mine. I will be brief."

Still seated on their thrones, auburn-haired Nayru and golden-haired Farore looked over their children who were arrayed beside their leader with sad eyes, as did the rest of the seated gods, looking down on the nine rebels who stood in the center of the thrones' circle.

Link noticed one darkly beautiful goddess, her skin a pale bone-white in sharp contrast to her midnight-black hair, flick a contemptuous glance back at one of the seated gods who stared at her with an expression of pity on his lean face. She seemed to silently reply that _she_ pitied _him_, for staying with the rest of the gods rather than joining with her and her dark master.

"I have returned to the Eternal Halls to inform you that my war upon you is renewed," the Dark God said, looking up at the Three. "Though as I said, I will initiate no violence here today, my intent is now your ouster from these halls."

"A bold statement, Dark One," Farore said with deceptive mildness as she stood from her throne. As her emerald-green gown shifted with her movements, Link saw that she, too wore golden armor beneath her raiment, similar in style to Din's. "Our last contest proved that even as we could not destroy you, neither could you destroy us. Another war between us would serve only to destroy the mortal realms as we battled."

"And it was you yourself who agreed to truce so that the mortals would not be completely destroyed," said Nayru, remaining seated. She rested her hands in her lap, appearing to be completely calm, unlike her sister Din, who still radiated fury. "Why do you now violate that truce?"

"Because you yourself violated it," the Dark God snapped. "I told you when we ended our war that if you ever violated our agreement, I would renew my war upon you. You have broken the truce, so now I will see you thrown from these halls and exiled to a prison from which you shall never escape. Your time as the masters of Creation is over."

"How have we broken the truce?" Din demanded, stepping to the very edge of the throne's dais, her hands clenched at her sides as her long black hair flew out in angrily thrashing strands. "We have honored our side of the agreement better than you have yours!"

The Dark God scoffed mockingly. "You are so self-righteous that you do not even realize you did it, do you? You consider yourself so far above everything that you Three think you need not obey any rule, no matter how serious."

"All of Creation is our making," Din replied, gesturing back to her sisters. "Why should we not be able to do with it as we will?" She pointed at the dark-robed figure, the long sleeves of her robe gently fanning out with the movement. "You are the one who has broken the truce, not us. You have mobilized your army in the mortal realms, giving the sorcerers who command it vast amounts of your own power."

"One of your sorcerers recently overwhelmed the mind of the present Bearer of Wisdom," Nayru said, both her posture and her tone still revealing no sign of anger. "I have examined this man, and it is my conclusion that he could not have done this without your direct assistance. Only the powers of a god can overcome a piece of the Triforce. It should be _us_ demanding _your_ surrender, Setarekh."

Link's eyes widened; he had never heard the Dark God's name spoken before. From the surprised murmuring circulating among the rest of the former Bearers gathered at the edges of the throne hall, neither had any of the other immortals.

The Dark God drew himself up, a sardonically amused gleam in the eyes glowing from the shadows of his hood. "I believe that is the first time you have spoken the name I gave myself to replace the one you stripped from me," he said. "Interesting."

"Explain yourself," Din said impatiently. "How do you claim we violated the truce?"

"Twenty-five mortal years ago," said the Dark God, "you Three directly interfered in the ending of the Oocca War. The Dark Lord Raneses had mortally wounded the Hero at the time, and you used your powers to heal his wound and return him to life." He thrust a gloved hand up to point at the Three Goddesses. "That was by itself enough to constitute a violation, but there is more."

Setarekh glanced back at his followers, his glowing purple eyes briefly meeting those of the ebon-haired goddess Link had noticed earlier. She nodded slightly, a slight, darkly amused smile upon her black lips.

"As Rykani monitored," the Dark God went on, gesturing to the Goddess of Magic, "you also caused the powers of the Triforce pieces to remain with their Bearers even after the Keeper of Wisdom had joined the Golden Power. As they and Ganondorf battled in an attempt to reach the joined Triforce, you fed them a steady stream of power, ensuring that they could not be beaten."

"The Triforce draws its power from us," Nayru replied. "And our power is without limit. There is no 'extra' power we provide; the Bearers themselves determine how much of the Golden Power they draw from their pieces of the Triforce."

"And the Golden Power remains with the Bearers when the Triforce is joined," said Farore. "Until the wish is made and the Triforce returns to the Sacred Realm, the powers remain with the Bearers as if they still bore their pieces within their bodies."

"Direct interference would have been eliminating Raneses ourselves," snapped Din. "And do not attempt to hide the fact that you were the source of his powers."

"Just as you choose your agents, I choose mine," Setarekh replied mildly. "I offered Raneses power, and he took it. What he did with it was his choice, which is more than you can say for your agents." The Dark God gestured at the Three with one hand, indicating the crowd of former Bearers with the other. "Once a man or woman is given a piece of the Triforce, there is little choice but to carry out your set mission for that individual. Only when one shows enough initiative to seek the Golden Power themselves is there choice involved."

"We have had this debate before," Nayru said, still maintaining perfect composure. "Despite my attempts to show you the logic and wisdom in our actions, you refuse to listen. You have hardened your heart, nephew, and will not heed counsel from anyone but yourself."

One of the goddesses standing with the Dark God, whose appearance was as a tall woman with long red hair that danced as if made of flame, stepped forward to look up at Nayru, her dark red gown seeming to flicker and sparkle with the movement. "Our brother allows all of us to speak our minds, which is more than you ever did. When we were creating the mortal realms, you pretended to ask us what we thought, but then proceeded with whatever you intended to do anyway. Our opinions do not matter to you in the slightest."

"Is that what your brother has told you, Taqat?" Din said, addressing her rebellious daughter. "What other slander has he spoken to justify his own greediness for power?"

The tallest of the rebel gods, whose appearance was as a powerfully built man clothed in black and dark red, his long black hair loose around his shoulders, crossed his arms over his chest. "We are not here to argue, Mother," he said. "We merely come to inform you that the truce is now ended. There will be war between us again, and this time we will not stop until either all of us or all of you are dead."

"The divine cannot be destroyed, Lornik," Farore said, stepping to the edge of the triple throne's dais to stand next to Din. "We proved this in our last war. All a direct confrontation will accomplish is the destruction of the mortal realms."

Rykani sneered. "Ah, but we have been busy during our millennia of truce."

With that, the Dark God himself raised one hand. The other rebel gods clustered around him, and for an agonizingly long moment, no one moved.

And then, to Link's horror, a twisting rope of obsidian lightning, a ribbon of darkness so black that it seemed to be a hole in the very fabric of existence itself, lanced out from Setarekh's gloved right hand to smash into the chest of one of the seated gods, the one Link knew as Tonas, a son of Farore.

Tonas screamed in agony, a howl of pain deeper than any mortal had ever felt, and seemed to bleed pure white light from the wound instead of blood. The ribbon of darkness continued to pour into his chest, until finally the Dark God closed his hand and lowered his arm.

The gaze of everyone in the room was locked on Tonas, who writhed on his throne, clutching the wound with both hands as he continued to scream. Farore rushed to the side of her son, but even before the Goddess of Courage reached his side, Tonas slumped from his throne and toppled to the floor of the chamber, dead.

The rest of the gods surged to their feet with expressions of shock and disbelief. Even Nayru's face was horrified, one hand pressed to her chest as the other braced her against her throne.

"_**Unless you pledge now to completely withdraw all influence of any kind from the mortal realms,**_" the Dark God said, his voice once again rising to the painfully loud thunderous rumble, "_**I will kill every single one of your children, and then you yourselves.**_"

Din's fury seemed to manifest itself as a blindingly bright red aura around her body, until she was only visible as what appeared to be a body made of flame. With a wordless cry of rage, she leaped from the dais down at Setarekh and the other rebel gods, and unleashed a tremendous blast of power into their midst.

All the rebels but Setarekh himself were thrown off their feet, tumbling away as they were hurled high into the air. The Dark God stood his ground and weathered the assault, countering his mother's lance of flame with a shield of shadow, which absorbed the deadly blast.

The Goddess of Power strengthened her assault until she shone too brightly to look at without pain, even for an immortal, and Link was forced to look away. When he finally regained his vision a moment later, Setarekh and the other rebels were all gone, vanished from the hall.

Link thought for a moment that Din had eradicated them all, but from the fury still written across her fiercely beautiful face as she faded back to her normal appearance, he realized that they had escaped instead.

Farore knelt on the floor, weeping over Tonas as she cradled his lifeless body in her arms. The rest of the gods had gathered around them, their expressions shocked beyond belief. In the uncounted millennia of their existence, no god had ever died before. Link could not quite believe it himself, though he was more used to death as having once been a mortal.

"Do you know what this means?" a deep male voice rumbled ominously behind him.

Link turned to see the original Raneses, the one called the Great, who had once been a Bearer of Power, standing a pace away with his heavily muscled arms crossed over his broad chest.

Zelda II nodded grimly. "Both sides will resume direct action in the mortal realms," she said. "The war is about to get unimaginably worse."

* * *

"_Why didn't you stop him?"_

"_Why didn't you stop him?"_

"_You are supposed to be my bodyguard."_

"_No! No!"_

_A soul-wrenching scream splits the night as a mother clutches her infant son's lifeless body._

_A huge man, his eyes ablaze with fury, stares down accusingly._

"_Why didn't you stop him?"_

Lynaka's eyes flew open, and she sat up, nearly falling off the edge of the bed as she momentarily lost her balance. For a moment, she did not know where she was, and stared, confused, at the tapestry-draped stone walls around her, illuminated only by a trickle of moonlight seeping through the slightly parted heavy curtain at one end of the chamber.

This was no tent, nor was it a wilderness campsite.

Hyrule Castle.

Lynaka allowed herself to fall back against the twisted sheets and pillows. She shifted her legs, freeing them from the tangled sheets.

Giving up on sleep, Lynaka swung her feet out of bed and allowed the shockingly cold stone floor to jolt the last remnants of slumber from her system. Spying her clothes tossed over one of the guest room's chairs, Lynaka dressed quickly in the dark.

It seemed like a dream to be back here, only a day after leaving. These clothes, an odd mixture of Hylian and Gerudo, fit strangely after her time in the past.

She was taller now than when these had been made, she realized.

Or perhaps it was just that she did not particularly feel like a Hero, and that was the reason why this symbolic uniform seemed to chafe.

Lynaka crossed to the window and opened the curtains, looking down at the restlessly peaceful city. It all seemed to be happening so fast, even for her, who had had almost an entire year more to prepare for this than everyone else.

Majacen was right. The Divine Host no longer moved in secrecy. Now they were openly moving against Hyrule and its allies, sending in lightning raids in an attempt to keep the Golden Kingdom off balance as they worked in secret on the next phase of their plans.

How many more times would they send an army directly into the heart of the kingdom? How many more times could she and her friends fight them off before one soldier or one sorcerer got lucky and killed the Queen?

Or her father?

Or Lord Fenris?

Or her sister?

Or Daskin?

Or her?

Lynaka crossed her arms over her chest, over the green jerkin that signified her position as Bearer of Courage and Hero of Hyrule, and stared out the window without really seeing anything.

It was an odd way for a warrior to think, to be both impatient for the next battle, for the next time she could wield her sword and her power against her foes, and yet, at the same time, to be so weary of battle that she never wanted to lift a weapon again.

Seeing Raneses the Great's son killed in front of her and his people cursed while she could do no more than watch that had given this contradictory slant to her thoughts, she decided.

For five months, she had lived with Raneses the Great and his family, sharing in their joys and sorrows, becoming a part of that family. She had watched the boy who had been killed by the sorcerer Dra'Kul, had held him in her arms and comforted him to sleep on many nights as the Great King moved about the desert and southern Hyrule. To watch that evil man kill the boy in cold blood was like seeing her own child crumple lifeless to the ground.

And she had done nothing.

_Nothing._

She had merely stood by and watched, had let it happen, when with one swift strike of her scimitar, she could have cut the evil sorcerer down and spared her people centuries of suffering. But, as Majacen had insisted then and had reminded her every time she brought it up over the months that followed, she had no right to change history. They were there merely to observe, nothing more.

The timeline was not to be tampered with; even with the best of intentions, only harm came from using the power of time travel to 'correct' past events.

"Time happens as it will," Majacen had said. "The only time we have the right to change is our own, where we belong."

Ganondorf, predictably, did not agree.

He had been there when they returned to the Heavenly Vault the first time, mere hours after the Blood Curse had been cast. Lynaka remembered that she had still been arguing with the wizard as they arrived, the last traces of the time-traveling magic dissolving around them.

"_You should have let me at least save the boy!" Lynaka shouted, her voice rough with grief. Her newly shortened hair tickled the back of her neck, shorter now than it had ever been in her life. She still held the severed braid in one hand, her dagger in the other._

"_We could not have interfered!" the wizard insisted, already pulling off his desert cloak as he moved for the stored equipment piled in one alcove of the Heavenly Vault. "To alter any of the events of that day could have resulted in changes to the timeline, the effects of which we could never predict! We could have changed history for the worse instead of for the better."_

"_What could be worse than nearly two millennia of suffering?" a deep voice asked from the shadows of an alcove in the opposite wall._

_All four of them started violently. Both Lynaka and Daskin drew their scimitars, while Midna held up a hand and charged a blast of energy._

_From the shadows stepped a tremendously tall man, his shoulders broad and his arms muscular beneath his sleeves. A hood shadowed his face, but from the golden triangle glowing on the back of his hand, he could be no one else than the Bearer of Power._

"_How could eliminating one of the worst atrocities ever committed possibly be the wrong thing to do?" the huge man demanded, advancing on Majacen._

"_Who are you?" Midna asked, her artificially blue eyes narrowing threateningly._

"_We have met before," the huge man replied. "Though neither of us wore the forms we do now."_

_He pulled back his hood to expose his face, one that all of them recognized despite the softer, more youthful lines that comprised it._

"_Ganondorf!" Midna snapped, her voice taut with alarm._

_Daskin did not hesitate; he leaped at the larger man with his weapon at the ready, charging a blast of energy with his other hand._

_Ganondorf merely sneered and gestured dismissively with one hand. Daskin flew backwards, slamming heavily into the wall with a groan._

"_I realize that both of your parents killed me once, boy," Ganondorf said scornfully. "But is carrying on the family tradition really more important to you than breaking the Blood Curse?"_

"_What are you talking about?" Midna asked, still holding a crackling ball of energy in her hand._

_Ganondorf turned his sneer upon her next. "Ironic that you wear the guise of one of my people, Midna, for you likely have several Gerudo ancestors yourself. The Hylians sent many of my sisters through the Mirror of Twilight before they attempted the same with me."_

_Midna slowly allowed the charge of magic to dissipate from her hand. Instead, she sent its energies into dispelling her disguise. With a momentary crackle and a flash of blue-green light, her skin, hair, and eyes reverted to their natural colors._

"_Explain yourself," she said. "How did you escape death this time?"_

_Ganondorf had explained then, the same explanation he later gave the Queen and the others, about how he found himself reborn in a new body among the Sea Gerudo of Termina. He grew up completely unaware of his previous lives, until he reached his twentieth year. Then, he learned, he had apparently once structured a spell to return the memories of all his previous incarnations to his conscious mind, for he received every memory of his past century and a half of existence in a flood one day._

_And then he remembered his last plan, the one he had made when arranging to have himself reborn; he was to find a way to enter the Sacred Realm and once again lay hands upon the Triforce._

"_For several years, I worked," he said, still standing steady as a statue next to one wall. "Up until the moment I entered the Sacred Realm and laid hands upon the Triforce several weeks previous to this day, I worked to arrange the final elements of my plan."_

_During his story, the four of them had dispelled their disguises and recovered their equipment. "And what plan is that?" Midna asked, shrugging into her long black outer robe._

"_My plan to break the Blood Curse," said Ganondorf._

He had then introduced them to Akima and explained where he had found her. Lynaka pulled herself from her thoughts, allowing the frigid stone of her room's floor return her to the present.

And none too soon, for even as she made to cross to the door at the opposite end of the chamber, an incredible pain radiated out from her hand, her Triforce piece flaring with bright light, and she slumped against the wall, biting back a scream.

Lynaka felt an overwhelming sense of sorrow and loss, and she could not explain why. The pain she had felt at seeing Raneses' son die swept through her mind intensified a hundredfold. Tears poured freely down her face as she sobbed helplessly, part of her still wondering what was happening.

The door to her chamber burst open, and the tall, broad-shouldered shape of Ganondorf strode in, wearing his usual clothes but without any of the weapons he usually wielded. His own Triforce piece shone with golden light on his hand, and his face was twisted with suppressed pain, but he seemed more in control of himself.

"Lynaka!" he said sharply. "Look at me!"

Blinking back tears, Lynaka looked up at the enormous man, and did not resist as he reached out to place one hand on the glowing Triforce marking and the other on her forehead. Almost immediately, the sense of sorrow she felt faded, though it did not disappear entirely.

Ganondorf straightened. "Can you stand?" he said, extending a hand toward her.

Lynaka accepted it and allowed him to pull her to her feet, seemingly without effort. "What is this?" she asked, holding up her still-glowing Triforce marking.

Ganondorf frowned thoughtfully. "I do not know. I have never felt anything like this before."

Lynaka's door banged against the wall again as Daskin rushed in, wearing only his pants and with his hair still mussed from sleep. "What's going on?" he said as he crossed the room. "Are you all right?'

"Something is wrong," Ganondorf answered. "We feel… pain, coming from the Triforce."

Daskin looked at him quizzically. "What?"

"I don't know how to explain it," Lynaka said, looking down at her hand. "It's almost as if the Triforce itself is in pain."

"Or the Goddesses," Ganondorf said suddenly. "This could be coming from one or more of the Three themselves."

"Again, what?" said Daskin, running the fingers of one hand back through his hair. He idly gestured at the lamp on the table beside Lynaka's bed, and it flared to life, casting warm orange light over the room in addition to the moonlight.

The three of them turned as someone else entered the room, and Lynaka recognized with no small amount of surprise Queen Zelda herself, clad in a nightgown and robe of blue silk, with her long brown hair hanging loose around her face.

"You felt it, too?" she said, looking at Lynaka. "Though I imagine it was much more severe in your case."

"Do you know what happened?" Daskin asked, turning to her.

The Queen nodded grimly. "The powers of the Triforce of Wisdom are still within me even though I no longer bear it," she said. "Only moments after I felt this pain, I understood it." She looked around at all three of them. "The pain comes from Farore herself; one of her children is dead."

"Impossible!" Ganondorf said disbelievingly. "Gods cannot die!"

"Apparently," said the Queen, looking up at him, "that is no longer true."

"What does this mean?" Daskin asked.

The Queen looked out of the still-open window, up at the shining circle of the moon. "I do not know," she said quietly.

* * *

When Princess Zelda finally awoke, the room around her was pitch dark and smelled of blood.

A deep, wrenching sense of sorrow and loss prevented her from rising, and so Zelda lay in the darkness for several long moments, sobbing without understanding why.

Finally, she managed to organize her mental shields enough to block most of the overwhelmingly powerful emotion, and as it faded, she struggled to bring her mind back to some semblance of organization.

Groggily, Zelda raised herself to a sitting position, feeling a deep, plush carpet beneath her fingers with one hand as she pressed the other to her aching head. As she realized her fingers were wet, she brought her hand up to her face in the utter dark. To her horror, smelled the coppery tang of blood.

Ignoring the pain in her head, Zelda spread her fingers and used her power to ignite a small ball of flame above her hand.

What she saw in the brief orange glow startled her so badly that she let it go out again.

Horrified, Zelda forced herself to get up, and stumbled for the wall. After groping blindly along it for several steps, she located a door and yanked it open.

Outside, she found herself in the corridor that ran along the Emperor's personal suite of rooms in the royal palace of Calatia, its carpets rich and deep, its walls the finest white marble, and trimmed in gold.

Blood stained the fingers of her left hand. On her right hand, the nails and fingertips were blackened, and she felt a residual tingling there, as if only moments before she had used incredibly powerful magic.

Zelda looked down at herself. She wore a tight-fitting corset of black leather over a deep purple skintight long-sleeved blouse, and a long, loose black skirt brocaded around the hem with metallic gold and silver threads mixed with dark purple. On her wrists were the silver magic-amplifying bracelets Majacen had given her at the Heavenly Vault, and from a broad black leather belt she wore a thin, light rapier with a black wire-wrapped hilt.

Her dark red hair hung in a tight single braid over her shoulder. As she glanced down at it, she realized she was wearing a cloak of dark burgundy silk, pushed back over her shoulders. She did not recognize the clothing, nor was it of the style she preferred. Where had these clothes come from?

As another wave of pain thundered through her head, Zelda squeezed her eyes tightly shut and leaned against the wall, massaging her temples with her right hand.

When the pain finally passed, Zelda straightened. Her eyes locked on the bloody fingerprints she left on the exquisite white marble, and she hastily rubbed her fingers on her cloak, straining to bring her thoughts to some kind of order.

As her eyes again passed over the bloody fingerprints on the wall, Zelda winced as she remembered what she had seen inside the room in which she had awoken; the jumble of bodies, the rich fabrics and gold jewelry scorched and blackened, soaked with blood.

"They're dead," she whispered to the empty corridor. "They're all dead."

Zelda allowed herself a moment of shock, but the great mental control taught to her by her mother and enhanced by her piece of the Triforce quickly washed it away, forcing the princess to face reality in all its horrible vivid detail.

The people she had left in that room were all dead, and by the present evidence, it looked like she had killed them.

Before anyone could approach, Zelda hurried down the corridor to a small chamber where guests the Emperor received in his personal suite waited for the servants to show them in. She locked both doors, then sank into one of the massive crimson velvet chairs.

First things first, Zelda thought, quickly unbuckling the rapier and tossing it into the other chair. What had Ibnis done to her, and how much time had passed?

Memories came like flashes of lightning as Zelda focused, snippets of images and quick bursts of sound. Ibnis' face, smiling unpleasantly, featured in more than a few of them, accompanied by strong impressions of pain and fear, though not coming from either of them.

The sorcerer had done something to her mind, Zelda thought, concentrating on that with all her will. With the Triforce of Wisdom, she would discover exactly what he had done.

It took a few more moments, and more than a few blinding waves of pain, but Zelda finally wrenched the answer from the depths of her own mind, and what she found there disturbed her more deeply than anything she had ever learned in her life.

Ibnis had not, as she first suspected, taken control of her mind. Zelda had been in complete control of her own body for the last two days, her mental check revealed.

As the half-remembered images spun through her mind, Zelda realized that Ibnis had not placed anything within her mind, no hidden protocols, no subliminal brainwashing techniques, or anything of the sort of mind control with which she was familiar.

He had instead taken something _out_, specifically, her inhibitions.

Everyone had a hidden darkness deep within themselves, the potential to become the sort of person most described as evil. It was all a part of free will; part of being able to make decisions was the ability to ignore the hidden part of one's mind that urged a release instead of control, the part of one's mind that whispered of throwing caution to the wind and doing whatever one wished without regard to consequences.

And it had been this part of her mind that had been in control of her body for the last two days. Zelda had been herself, but a version of herself that had no morals, no conscience, and no sense of right and wrong.

Someone who would have no compunctions whatsoever about murdering the people she had left behind her in that room.

It first deeply disturbed Zelda to know that the potential to become like this had been lurking within her mind, but then again, this existed within everyone. It was the conscience, the sense of morals and ethics taught to most that instilled within them the standards of behavior, that gave most sentient beings their personality.

What Ibnis had done, Zelda realized, was first get her thinking about his offer. Then, he had located the smallest part of her, the hidden voice she had suppressed beneath layer after layer of restraint, control, and ethics; the part of her that agreed with him and wanted to take him up on his offer.

And then he had locked everything else away and let that part of her have total control.

The sheer power and skill the man must have, to do something like this not only to a member of the Hylian Royal Family, who were all thoroughly instructed in the ways of the mind, but to the Bearer of Wisdom… It strained credulity, yet here was the evidence.

He had taken the hidden darkness she caged deep within herself and had let it run free. She could feel the pathways forged by that mindset even now, the ones that urged her to summon all the power she possessed and slaughter everyone in the city, simply because she had the capability to do so.

Firmly, Zelda pushed this urge down, reinforcing her mental shields fourfold. She drew deeply on her piece of the Triforce, willing herself to return to _herself_, the woman she was and wanted to be.

The darkness railed and screamed against her shields, but she was back in control for now. She was herself again, for the moment.

Zelda very slowly got to her feet. She was going back in that room. She was going to make herself see what was in there, what she had done while she was not all of herself.

She absently gestured at the rapier sitting on the other chair, and only after it leaped into her hand and she began to buckle its belt back around her hips did what she had just done catch up with her.

Telekinesis was a skill she had always struggled with in the past. Zelda had abandoned her studies of it long ago, reasoning that it was better she do things with her own hands anyway. But just now, it had taken only a flicker of her will, the smallest part of her concentration, as if by reflex.

Zelda took a deep breath, steadying herself. One by one, she forced the confused, jumbling currents of her mind back into order, gathered them by force of will into clarity and control.

Gathering her will about herself like a cloak, she marched back down the corridor and threw open the door to the chamber in which she had awoken. She could see little inside; by the dim lamplight outside and the utter blackness within the chamber, she could see only dim shapes and a dark stain upon the floor, only the edge of which was within the rectangle of light cast inside from her doorway, a thin crescent of wet scarlet.

Taking a deep breath, Zelda used her newfound skill with telekinesis to draw the curtains back a few inches, letting in just enough light for her to make out more detail.

Again she cringed, feeling her gorge rise within her throat. She forced herself to look, though, and confirmed what she had suspected in the back of her mind since awakening. The corpses scattered around this room were those of the Calatian Royal Family.

All of them.

Like a slap to the face, it all came back to her; she had struggled mightily here. The fractured parts of her mind had warred for control in this room, both to keep herself from doing something terrible and equally as fiercely to make sure she did it. Then, something ended the struggle abruptly; whatever was causing the inexplicable sorrow she still felt even now.

But before she had fallen unconscious, which side had won?

Try as she might, Zelda could find no evidence within her mind that either confirmed that she had murdered the people lying scattered around the sumptuous bedchamber or denied it, reassuring her that she had not committed this unspeakable atrocity.

A faint brush against Zelda's awareness drew her attention to the corridor behind her. She turned to see Ibnis standing there, dressed in another of his blood-red and black robes, his dark hair bound tightly at his neck.

"Hmm," he said mildly. "You shouldn't be awake yet."

"Did you make me do this?" Zelda said angrily, rounding on him.

The sorcerer smiled unpleasantly. "No, my dear. This was entirely your idea." He sighed in mock-regret. "I urged caution, but you were impatient, and wanted to act now. Thanks to this," he gestured to the darkened doorway, "you are now the sole living member of the Calatian Royal Family aside from your father." Ibnis smirked. "The Empire is yours to command, my lady." He paused, mockingly adopting a thoughtful expression. "Or shall I call you… Empress Zelda the First?"

"No," Zelda said. "I would never do something like this."

Ibnis shrugged unconcernedly. "Ordinarily, no. You are depressingly strong-willed, far too much so to be convinced through ordinary persuasion. But you know this, don't you? You have already discerned all this yourself, haven't you?"

Zelda felt him attempt to probe her mind. But this time, with her full concentration and will behind them, her mental shields held, and he could not get inside.

"Yes, it's as I thought," Ibnis said, still showing no hint of being even slightly annoyed. He seemed more amused than anything else. "I didn't think the effect would last long, anyway; the Triforce is far too powerful."

He took a step closer to her, sighing in mock annoyance. "This does force me to alter my plans. I had intended for one of the servants to discover you, but I suppose I will have to deal with the 'assassin' myself." He smiled unpleasantly again. "Naturally, after such an atrocity committed by the Crown Princess, Calatia will have no choice but to declare war upon Hyrule."

With a tremendous concussive blast, Ibnis knocked Zelda off her feet to slam heavily into the door frame. "A shame I couldn't take her alive, to learn why she would ever do such a senseless thing. No one would have ever expected Zelda to be hiding such terrible darkness within herself."

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to Seldavia for beta reading. Till next time!


	16. In Darkest Night

Sixteen

(In Darkest Night)

Princess Zelda gasped in pain as her back slammed into the doorframe of the royal suite in the Calatian Imperial Palace. But before she had even dropped to the floor, she prepared a counterattack.

When Zelda hit the carpeted stone floor, she rolled over, dodging Ibnis' next attack, and put both hands together, held slightly apart. From between her palms came an eruption of lightning, a cat o' nine tails of crackling purple-white energy that lashed the evil sorcerer in punishing whips.

Ibnis cried out and stumbled backwards, his clothing smoking from the assault, but with a wave of his arm, he summoned a crystalline dark purple shield, one that absorbed and reflected the bolts of Zelda's lightning storm.

But Zelda's attack had merely been to buy her time to get up; she was just getting started.

With a fierce cry, Zelda spun, preparing another blast, and when she completed her turn, threw out her arm and unleashed a full-strength bolt of lightning, easily the equal of any generated by a thunderstorm.

A tremendous blast of sound and blinding light knocked Ibnis completely off his feet, shattering his summoned shield like it was made of glass. Zelda gave him no time to rest; she sent another storm of lightning strikes coruscating down the hall, lashing him again and again with energy almost too powerful to control.

Zelda did not question from whence came her newfound power; she only used it to its fullest extent. Questions could be asked later. Now, it was time for the man who had violated her mind to die.

Ibnis staggered to his feet, trying to erect another shield, but Zelda again put her hands together and sent forth a battering ram of purging flame, roaring down the hall with such heat that the tapestries and carpets instantly caught fire around them.

The sorcerer managed to deflect the column of flame into the wall, where it melted the very stone, and with his other hand, generated a blast of his own, a spitting, whining lance of bright orange energy that surged down the hall like a swarm of angry hornets.

Zelda braced herself, reflexively throwing up her hands, and to her surprise, instead of causing her damage, Ibnis' attack was absorbed into her body, somehow instantly converted into raw power for her own use.

She stared at her hands for a moment as the hallway burned around her. How was this even possible? She was an advanced student of magic, true, but nowhere near this advanced. She was doing things even her mother likely could not do.

Ibnis also stood unmindful of the inferno around them, staring at her in open shock. "How…" he trailed off, hands clenching into fists.

Zelda replied, but not with words; she sent the energy she had absorbed back at him in a stream of fire, a white-hot whip of plasma that burned a hole right through the stone wall beside him as he dodged, leaping for the open doorway.

With a tug of telekinesis, Zelda seized the evil sorcerer and yanked him back into the burning hall. She sent him sailing up into the rafters, two of which he snapped with the speed and force of his ascent, then let him drop to the floor.

Ibnis twisted in a surprisingly acrobatic flip as he fell, lightly pushing off the wall with one foot and twisting in a long back-flip to land on his feet several yards away, his charred and tattered robes fluttering around him.

He held up his hands, and with a sweeping motion, like he was hurling an enormously heavy object, sent a ball of compressed air at her, a smashing globe of concussive force.

Zelda braced herself, and though it knocked her back several feet, she was able to maintain her footing, her boots scraping against the remains of the carpet and the stone floor beneath it. One patch of burnt carpet shifted unexpectedly, and Zelda slipped, landing heavily on one knee.

Ibnis took advantage of this slight pause in her concentration to send a gale of wind down the hall at her, one that knocked her completely off her feet and several yards backwards.

As it turned out, this was fortuitous; the very moment that Zelda was out of the way, a knife whistled down the hallway to bury itself in the sorcerer's chest just below his left shoulder.

Zelda rolled over to look behind her, and saw Impa standing there, her short sword in one hand and another throwing knife in the other. The tall, muscular bodyguard nodded once, with a murmured, "My lady," before she charged down the hall again.

Ibnis telekinetically hurled broken, burning furniture at her, but Impa dodged, twisting nimbly around each missile without slowing her charge. She threw the second knife at him as she leaped over a low-flung piece of what had once been a table, but this time Ibnis saw it coming and blocked the knife with another chunk of flaming wood.

He loosed at blast of energy at Impa, but before it even reached her, she suddenly disappeared. Ibnis had time only to narrow his eyes in suspicion before Impa reappeared only a step behind him, where she plunged her sword into his back.

Ibnis screamed, and with a burst of purple fire, he disappeared. Not dead, Zelda sensed; he had teleported himself away. She briefly considered following him, since she apparently now knew how, but when she saw the servants gathered at the other end of the hall, watching in horror, she realized what she had to do.

One courageous man had pulled off his tunic and was attempting to beat out the flames around the Imperial Family's chambers with it, and he was soon joined by a maid who pulled one of the intact tapestries off the wall.

Impa disappeared again and reappeared next to Zelda, offering her a hand to help her to her feet. The princess took it gratefully, looking into her protector's red eyes as she did so. Had she hurt Impa at all while she was not all of herself? It didn't seem so, but Zelda was afraid to ask what she had done while most of her mind had been locked away.

"You are yourself again?" Impa asked cautiously.

Zelda nodded. "I am, though I do not know how."

One of the maids braved the flames to rush over to them. "Are you all right, my lady?" she asked Zelda.

"Yes," the princess replied. She paused for a moment in concentration, then sent a chill wind down the hall to extinguish the flames. Only moments later, the fires were out, leaving most of the hallway a smoking, blackened ruin.

"The Royal Family is dead!" came the anguished scream from the chamber in which Zelda had awoken. A guard in soot-streaked armor rushed out of the room, distraught tears sweeping a path through the grime on his face. "They are all slain!"

"Who would have done such a thing?" the maid who had come over to Zelda gasped, bringing one hand up to her mouth.

"It must have been that Ibnis!" the servant who had first entered the chamber cried, pulling his blackened tunic back on. "He was a sorcerer; we all saw him attack Lady Zelda!"

Though part of her feared she might be telling a lie, Zelda nodded. "It's true," she said. "He attacked me after I found them."

That part wasn't a lie, she amended, though it did make it seem as if she had not been the one to kill them. She was still unsure of exactly what had happened, herself.

"How can this be?" the maid sobbed. "How can they all be dead? What will we do?"

With a heavy heart, Zelda realized what had to be done. Whether it had ever actually been her intention or not, she was now the only living member of the Imperial Family in Calatia; her father had a stronger claim to the throne than she did, but Calatia needed a leader, and she was here now.

"First," she said gently, laying a hand on the maid's shoulder, "we will see to it that they are all buried with honor."

* * *

"Useless thing!" Aeron snarled as he hurled his Communication Stone away. It bounced off the wall next to him and rolled into a corner of _Auric Raptor_'s bridge. The great warship shook again under another punishing fusillade, and its captain braced himself against the railing of the command platform, gritting his teeth.

"Hard to starboard, twenty degrees down!" he shouted through the thunderous cannon-fire at the helmsmen. "Try and get underneath it!"

Aeron clenched his hands around the railing and braced himself as his mighty warship soared through the air, turning to swoop beneath the mile-wide bulk of an Oocca flying fortress.

He had no idea where the behemoth had come from, since he thought they had all been destroyed during the war, and their builders were now isolated in their flying cities, left without wings by the power of the Triforce. But here it was, so huge he had at first mistaken it for a thunder-cloud, before it opened fire upon his vessel.

_Auric Raptor_ shook again, so violently Aeron was hurled over the edge of the railing. He tumbled for what seemed like an eternity before his back slammed heavily into the deck and all the air left his lungs in a pained rush.

Great black shapes seemed to wash over his vision, and despite the chaos of the bridge, Aeron could only lie there for several moments as he tried to gather his wits.

He heard a woman's voice shout an order above him, then a hand appeared, reaching out toward him. Aeron reached up and took it, still shaking off the shock of the impact, and gratefully nodded to his sister Erys as she helped him to his feet.

Aeron's regular first officer had taken ill, so Erys had taken his place on this voyage, which was meant to be a simple troop transfer from the capital to one of the cities his father's forces and the Hyrule Army were besieging.

"Our cannons don't seem to be doing any real damage!" Erys shouted over the noise of the battle. "We've hit the weak point a dozen times now, but they're still coming!"

"They must be using a regular crew," Aeron shouted back, "not mind-control!"

Erys flinched as an enemy cannonball smashed through the bridge windows and a flying shard of glass gashed her forehead. Aeron grabbed her by the arm and pulled her down, throwing himself over her body as another shot sailed in after it, exploding as it hit the command platform.

As he rolled over and jumped to his feet, Aeron felt an intense heat on his back. He realized his cloak was on fire, and immediately plucked out the silver falcon's-head pin that clasped it, hurling the flaming black garment away with his other hand. He tucked the pin into his pocket as he turned to his sister, helping her to her feet in turn.

Erys came up with one hand pressed to the gash in her forehead, but as her probing fingers informed her the wound was not serious, she wiped her fingers on her uniform trousers and turned to her brother. "We have to get out of here!" she shouted.

Aeron nodded in grim agreement. "Even at top speed, it'll take us a while to get out of range of their guns!"

"Have you called for reinforcements?" Erys asked, wincing as another shot impacted the _Auric Raptor_ just below its bridge, sending more debris flying in through the broken windows.

"They've blocked our communications!" Aeron shouted back. "Even the hand-helds won't get through!"

"What can we do?" Erys asked, swiping away a trickle of blood from her wound that dripped into her eye.

"How did Father get rid of these things?" Aeron wondered out loud, looking through the shattered windows at the enormous bulk of their enemy.

Again the helmsmen tried to guide the airship underneath their enemy, but again, a furious storm of cannon-fire drove them away. The _Raptor_ shook violently under the assault, her hull creaking ominously under the strain of so many rapid maneuvers.

Aeron felt the blood drain from his face as he heard a shrieking whine come from deep within the bowels of his ship, accompanied by more ominous groaning. He and Erys shared a desperate glance; both of them recognized that sound, and knew what it meant.

"All hands, brace for impact!" Aeron shouted. Even now, the deck tilted beneath his feet, and he lurched for the wall, where he seized the ladder leading to the upper deck.

_Auric Raptor_ plummeted from the sky, on fire and trailing smoke. As he saw the ground rush up at him through the shattered bridge windows, Aeron braced his legs and gritted his teeth.

With a great splintering crash, Aeron's vessel slammed into the ground. The world shook violently around him, he lost his grip on the ladder's rungs, and then everything around him went black and he knew no more.

* * *

Princess Zelda sat alone in her room in the Calatian Imperial Palace, her chin resting on her interlaced fingers, her elbows propped on her knees. It was dark inside her chamber; she had drawn the curtains and left the lamps unlit.

Again and again Zelda's thoughts returned to her agonizing mystery; had she or hadn't she killed the Imperial Family? Whether or not she had, Calatia now looked to her for leadership; she would have to assume the throne herself. There was no other save her father, who was on another continent entirely, weeks away by ship.

A quiet footstep alerted Zelda to the fact that she was not alone, and a quick probe with her extended perceptions revealed the intruder's identity.

"I thought you might come," Zelda said into the darkness.

A shadow moved in front of her, assuming the shape of a woman with one hand resting on the sword at her hip. "I thought you might need my help," she replied.

Zelda gestured at the curtain, and it moved back far enough to cast a long bright stripe on the carpet. In the slightly increased light now streaming into the room, Val's concerned but cautious expression was revealed.

"I may have killed my father's family," Zelda said quietly, fighting to keep the emotion from her tone. All her great self-control was currently engaged in preventing herself from breaking down and sobbing hysterically at the thought of the atrocity she might have committed.

Quickly but bluntly, Zelda laid out what she remembered of the last few days and what she thought Ibnis had done to her mind. Val listened intently, frowning thoughtfully throughout the princess' description.

Finally, the Emissary spoke, running a hand through her short auburn hair as she glanced at the pale strip of light cast upon the carpet. "I think your assessment of what the sorcerer did to you is correct, Your Highness," she said. "My skills do not lie in the mental disciplines, else I would help you try to reconstruct the memory. Perhaps Majacen may be of some help there, though he is currently busy helping the Hero and her companions repel an assault by the Divine Host."

When Zelda looked over at her, Val elaborated. "The Enemy has sent his servants against Hyrule," she said. "Again and again they hurl themselves against the capital. Castle Town has become an immense battleground, where the fighting has consumed the city. The civilians have been evacuated to the old sewers, where Lynaka's father and a platoon of soldiers watch over them, but the Hero herself has been fighting for days, trying to protect the Queen, who seems to be the target of these attacks.

"More disturbing still, it seems that the ancient truce between the Dark God and the Goddesses is now dissolved; Majacen believes that the Enemy has slain one of the other gods, and now seeks the destruction of all his foes. I fear these attacks by his army are only the beginning."

Zelda absorbed all this in silence. "I believe the Divine Host sought to use Calatia's armies against Hyrule," she said. "Ibnis was going to take control of the empire and blame me for the massacre, thereby justifying the declaration of war against Hyrule." She met the other woman's eyes grimly. "A war on two fronts would crush my country. Even with all her allies, my mother cannot resist a concerted attack by two massive opposing forces forever. Lord Viserys has his own cities to see to; if the Divine Host is attacking him as well, he will be unable to send any reinforcements to Hyrule."

"What are you going to do?" Val asked.

Zelda stood. "I will take the throne of Calatia and send its armies to my mother's aid. I have no doubt we will be attacked here, as well, but in my view, Hyrule is more important. The Golden Kingdom must not fall."

"I agree," said Val. "Keep one or two legions here, but send the rest across the sea to Hyrule."

"In the meantime, I have a favor to ask of you," Zelda said. She took a deep breath, pouring all her concentration into remaining calm.

"Certainly," the Emissary replied.

"Horys is missing," Zelda said, her voice wavering slightly anyway. "Impa has searched the entire palace, and she cannot find him. She will not leave my side to expand her search, so I must ask you to find him. I fear Ibnis slew him while I was not myself." She closed her eyes, clenching her hand so tightly that she felt the nails digging into her skin. "Or I did," she added in a voice barely above a whisper.

"I will discover his fate," Val said solemnly. "If he still lives, I swear by the Goddesses that I will bring him back to you."

"Thank you," Zelda replied, inclining her head in acknowledgment.

Val turned to leave, but Zelda raised a hand as she remembered something. "Before you go," she said, "do you know why the Communication Stones no longer function? Not one I can find in the palace will activate."

"Some Divine Host sorcerer has cast a spell that interferes with their function," Val replied. "Majacen is working on a way to overcome it, but he has no time to work between attacks on Castle Town. All his effort is going into protecting your mother."

"So we are cut off," Zelda said grimly. "We cannot contact our allies, nor can they contact us. The mail takes weeks to get here from Hyrule; even the fastest ship on the ocean could not make the crossing in less than a week and a half."

"The Twili portals Lord Fenris and his wife set up are still in place," Val reminded her. "Their family and some Sheikah agents can still use them."

"Has Daskin learned the ability to create the portals?" Zelda asked.

"I believe so," the Emissary replied.

"Good," the princess said, standing. "Return to Hyrule and send him here. We'll need several here and along the route to the coastal cities, so I can move the legions faster. I want you to recruit every Sheikah agent who can use Twili magic to assist in the transport."

"The portals may not be able to handle numbers that large," Val cautioned. "They're meant to transport small groups of people and objects. You may not be able to move more than a dozen men at a time."

"Calatia's armies total nearly a million," Zelda said thoughtfully. She thought for a moment, mentally revising her strategy. "I will send one legion through the portals as soon as Daskin arrives," she said, looking over at the other woman. "The rest I will send by sea. Send an agent to ask Lord Viserys for two or three airships to protect the convoy and also carry troops."

"Yes, Your Highness," Val replied, bowing her head in acknowledgment. "I will leave immediately."

And she did; only a moment after she finished speaking, the Emissary disappeared in a swirl of light.

Alone once more, Zelda crossed to the window to look down at the city in which she had spent more than a third of her life.

In the middle of all the turmoil which had so recently been wrought upon these people, she would have to explain to them why she was sending more than three-quarters of the army across the ocean to a place most of them had never seen, had to explain why her home country needed protection more than these people-her subjects, Zelda thought for the first time-against the depredations of the most vicious and unpredictable horde the world had ever seen.

Princess Zelda allowed herself one last, final moment of despair, allowed herself a last moment of panic and self-doubt, before she pushed all negativity from her mind and steeled herself for the coming days of activity.

It was time to leave the princess behind, to become a woman in whose hands the fates of millions rested.

It was time to become an Empress.

* * *

"That's the last of them for now, I think," Erike reported grimly, wiping down her scimitar with a scrap of cloth she'd cut from one their foes' uniforms.

Daskin sighed tiredly, thrusting his sword into the ground beside his aching legs as he allowed himself to slump to the ground along the wall outside Castle Town's southern entrance.

"We should get back to the castle," Erike said, shifting her weight from one leg to the other.

Daskin groaned theatrically. "I can't make it," he said with a tired grin. "You'll have to carry me."

Erike raised an amused eyebrow. "I probably could, if that's what you really want."

Daskin laughed, but the last part of it turned into a hoarse cough, driven by all the smoke in the air. "I think you're right," he said between chuckle/coughs. He patted the ground beside him. "Sit. The castle'll still be there in ten minutes."

He frowned. "I hope."

Erike nodded. She did not sit, but leaned against the wall beside him, sheathing her scimitar as she did so.

Today's attack had been a three-pronged assault, with nearly a dozen sorcerers summoning hundreds of Divine Host soldiers into being around Castle Town's gates on both sides. While Lynaka and Ganondorf held the main castle gate itself, Daskin and Erike had fought outside the south entrance today, she fighting alongside the troops, and he trying to eliminate as many of the sorcerers as he could.

Every day, he was being pushed closer to his limits; if the assault kept up this pace, Daskin knew he would collapse from exhaustion sooner or later. He hadn't slept in two days, and he didn't think any of the others had, either. He had acquired dozens of small wounds which he hadn't had time or energy to heal, and he was quite certain he had cracked a rib from one of the numerous rough landings he'd endured, chasing Divine Host sorcerers across the sky above the castle.

From his seat on the ground, Daskin looked up past the hilt of the Twilight Blade to his companion. Erike's long brown braid had been scorched near the end by a sorcerer's attack, and several strands had pulled free and hung, soaked with sweat, around her face. Lynaka had finally managed to persuade her sister to wear a short-sleeved shirt of chain-mail, over which she wore a tabard covered in her family's designs. Erike's forearms above her bracers were covered in small scratches and bruises, extending back up into the tight sleeves of her one concession to armor.

Daskin glanced down at his own scratched hands, realizing that he didn't even remember how he had gotten most of his own wounds. His mind felt muddled, unable to think of anything more complicated than 'attack' and 'defend' right now.

Heavy footsteps preceded the arrival of Ganondorf, clad as usual in his dark outfit of leather and chain-mail, the belts of his numerous weapons over his chest and around his waist creaking with his movements. The Bearer of Power held his war-axe loosely in one hand, idly cleaning its blade with a scrap of purple uniform cloth as he approached.

As usual, the enormous man nodded first to Erike before he addressed Daskin. Had the Bearer of Power been anyone else, his habit of acknowledging Daskin last would have been irritating, but Daskin ignored it. He and Ganondorf had settled into a mutually civil, if cold, relationship throughout the months of their companionship.

"The sorcerers are all dead," Ganondorf stated matter-of-factly. "I destroyed the rest of the troops along with the Hero." A sardonic smirk crossed his face. "One can only wonder how many more soldiers the Dark One can throw at us to fall like chaff beneath our blades."

"Well," Daskin replied as he heaved himself to his feet. "I'm glad you're enjoying yourself, Ganon. It must make you very happy to have so many things to kill."

He plucked the Twilight Blade from the ground and slid it into the scabbard at his side as he idly waited for the reincarnated Dark Lord's response.

Ganondorf merely smirked as he swiped a bit of matter off his axe. The ever-present fierce gleam in his eye intensified briefly before fading back down to its usual level.

Daskin frowned briefly. Even after all the time they'd spent together on their second journey into the past, he still didn't trust Ganondorf. There were too many things the Bearer of Power refused to tell him, namely, just how, exactly, he had managed to arrange another resurrection for himself.

"I've come to fetch you back to the castle," said Ganondorf. "Your fathers have called a meeting to discuss strategy, and they want you two there."

Daskin looked over at the stairs leading up to the south gate with a grimace. "Were you serious about that offer to carry me?" he said to Erike, grinning again.

Surprising both of the others, Ganondorf stiff-armed Daskin's shoulder, shoving him back into the wall.

"_Show respect, outsider fool,_" Ganondorf snarled in Gerudo. "_You are not one of us._"

"_Excuse me?" _Daskin exclaimed, quite deliberately using the same language. "_What are you talking about?_"

Ganondorf took a step closer, glaring down at him with fierce amber eyes. "_You will address your chooser's sister with more respect in the future, half-breed lackwit,_" he continued in his native language._ "You have no right to speak to her thus."_

Reflexively, Daskin's hand went to the hilt of the Twilight Blade, and the sword was half out of its scabbard before he checked himself.

Irritably, he rammed his weapon back down and took a step back. "_Stop trying to provoke me," _he said, forcing himself to remain calm. He narrowed his eyes. _"And considering some of the things you've done to the people here, I'd carefully rethink your opinions on how we all can talk to each other. These are my friends, but you are only our ally. Don't think anyone has forgotten what you've done, Ganondorf."_

"_Your family is not the only one with a long memory,_" Ganondorf said cryptically. With that, he stormed off, angrily stomping up the steps before he disappeared inside the city gate.

"What was _that_ about?" Daskin said, returning to Hylian. "He buckle his weapons too tight this morning or something?"

Erike shrugged, but her expression quickly darkened into grave thoughtfulness. "He has been spending the time between attacks in the Royal Archives," she said. "He does not think anyone knows, since he enters secretly, but on patrol I have twice seen him emerging from one of the skylights, his expression furious both times."

Daskin sighed irritably. "That's just great," he growled. "Not only do we have to fend off a dozen attacks a day from these damned sorcerers and their disgusting soldiers, but now we have to watch our own allies, too!" He looked down at Erike. "Keep an eye on him, would you? This little display makes me think he's up to something."

He frowned. "And considering it's Ganondorf, that can't bode well for any of us."

* * *

Lynaka looked up from her place around the banquet hall table between her father and Lord Fenris as her sister and Daskin walked in. This chamber, the Royal Family's private dining hall, had been appropriated as a secondary war room, one where the Triforce Bearers-both current and former-and the rest of their group could meet privately.

Even after the past few days' continuous fighting, the troops still did not know the full story behind the enemy they were fighting. Arnak did not like it, and Lynaka agreed with her father, but the Queen, Lord Fenris, and Grand Marshal Ashei had all agreed not to tell the army exactly what they were up against for the sake of morale.

Lord Fenris tapped the map of Castle Town spread over the table in front of them, indicating an area near the west gate. "Our scouts have confirmed it," he said to Arnak. "The Divine Host has transported their soldiers inside in the exact same places in their last four waves. I'm thinking they have some form of teleportation portal set up in these areas, so we need to dispel it."

"That's going to be hard," Midna said grimly. "Teleportation in any form is extremely hard to block. I don't know if I even know how, let alone whether I could do it if I did."

"It is among the more difficult aspects of the mystic arts to master," agreed Rhannik, a Sheikah mage who had reported to the castle yesterday. A tall man with silver-shot dark brown hair, Rhannik typically wore a dark, tight-fitting Sheikah uniform with a loose black outer robe over it, a sword at his side.

"Are you saying you can do it?" Lord Fenris asked, looking over at him.

Rhannik passed a hand over his clean-shaven chin, red eyes on the map. "If I can study one of these portals undisturbed for a time? Yes."

Daskin scoffed sardonically. "Good luck with that," he said. "Near as I can figure, they've been sending in new waves of troops every five hours like clockwork. Assuming it takes us between three and four hours to get rid of all of them, that gives you an hour, two if you're lucky, to ponder on this thing."

"That won't be long enough," said Rhannik. "I would need at least four hours at the minimum to study how their sorcerers are structuring the portals."

"That's not gonna happen," Daskin said pragmatically.

"We'll just have to _make_ it happen," Lynaka said determinedly. "How would we go about isolating one of these areas?"

"I will do it," Ganondorf said from his place along the back wall, leaning on the windowsill where he could see out into the city. "I can cast a barrier around a certain area that will block any magic from entering."

"You mean one of those yellow shields you were so fond of?" Midna asked. "The kind that took my full power to break through?"

"Correct," said the former Dark Lord, turning to face the table around which the others were standing. "Since I am positive not even the sorcerers of the Divine Host have among them power approaching that of the Fused Shadows, my barrier will hold against them."

"Well, why don't you just put one of those over the castle like you did twenty-six years ago?" Ashei asked, looking over at him. "Better yet, put it over the whole city; if they can't get in, we get time to plan a counterattack, yeah?"

Ganondorf regarded her with an expression close to contempt. "If I were to isolate the entire capital," he said, "I would have to isolate it from everyone, including our own troops and supply lines. We would all starve to death inside, since any point of entrance would be exploited by our enemy, and the shield would become useless. What would you have me do, wall off the entire country? Not even I can do that for any useful length of time."

To her credit, Ashei's only reply to Ganondorf's jab was a minute frown and a narrowing of her eyes. She silently returned to the map.

Lynaka frowned over at Ganondorf, silently telling him to restrain himself. His reply was to deepen his scowl, glaring at the rest of the people in the room again.

"Well, like Grumpendorf said before he went off on his little tirade," said Daskin, "we _can_ put one of those shields up over a small area. I say we pick one and have Rhannik get to work right now, before another wave of troops comes in."

Ganondorf growled something astoundingly vulgar in Gerudo at Daskin, which caused Lynaka to cough embarrassedly, Erike to widen her eyes in astonishment, and Arnak to rumble disapprovingly, glaring over at the former Dark Lord.

Daskin only smirked. "That's impossible in about eight different ways; I'm impressed."

Ganondorf seethed, but did not reply. "Pick your place," he snarled at the Sheikah mage. "Let's get this started as soon as possible."

Rhannik's expression contained only a hint of amusement as he indicated a spot on the map. "Here," he said. "Let's go."

* * *

Author's Note: Chapter 17 is in the works and should be up soon. By soon, I mean, 'well less than two months'. Seriously. Till next time!


	17. Masquerade

Seventeen

(Masquerade)

A week passed in Calatia as the preparations for the Imperial Family's funeral were made, and finally the day came. As the surviving member of the family, Princess Zelda walked ahead of the bodies on the procession into the Imperial Crypt. By long tradition, only members of the Calatian Imperial Family were allowed into the crypt; it was the duty of the heir to personally lay his or her predecessor to rest before they were allowed to take the throne themselves.

Mourners lined the streets of the capital, every one of them dressed in black, or, in the case of the commoners, the darkest-colored items they owned. Zelda herself wore a heavy black cloak over her clothes, her hood up and her head bowed in grief.

She may not have gotten along well with her father's family, but they were her family nonetheless. Now the only living relatives she had in the world were her parents; she had no brothers or sisters, nor did her mother. She was alone here; Impa was off searching for Horys, and all of her friends were across the ocean in Hyrule, dealing with the never-ending siege there.

It was not so much that she needed allies here; as far as she could tell, Zelda was almost universally beloved by the Calatians, who saw themselves as mourning alongside her at the loss of her family. There was no opposition to her ascending the throne; in fact the Calatians welcomed it, if only to return a measure of stability to their realm.

No, Zelda felt her isolation keenly because she had no one she trusted to talk to; the city was filled with people sympathetic to her, but she could confide in none of them.

At the head of the funerary procession, Zelda sighed deeply and bowed her head further, feeling the edges of her hood brush her cheek with the movement.

As a show of her devotion to her new subjects, no horse or carriage bore the caskets of the Imperial Family; Zelda herself held them aloft through telekinesis. All her concentration was devoted to making sure the black-shrouded coffins moved smoothly, perfectly in formation.

It still both saddened and sickened Zelda just how many caskets followed her into the crypt; it was all she could do not to break down into sobs every time she saw the miniature ones containing the children.

The honor guard marching in front of her, in full dress uniform with black armbands about their right sleeves, halted at the colossal gate that led into the massive underground funerary complex. They formed into two long rows on either side of the gate, their ceremonial spears, polished and gleaming, held out at an angle above her head.

Zelda silently moved past them, her father's family following in equal silence. When the last casket passed the threshold, the enormous ornate doors rumbled closed.

The statues of the previous Emperors frowned down at Zelda, images wrought in stone standing atop high pedestals on both sides of the long stone passage. The very first Emperor and his heir flanked the entrance, so that all who entered here walked past them and their descendants until they reached their destination, walking down through history until they reached their own era.

Zelda had been here only once before, when the first wife of Belakar XIII died and her husband and children laid her to rest. She and her father had accompanied them, and she remembered looking up with awe at all the statues of the men that had ruled this Empire before her uncle and grandfather.

Now, her eyes remained on the floor, and she did not look up as she slowly walked down to the waiting crypt for the caskets accompanying her.

At a soft step in front of her, Zelda glanced up to see one of the keepers of the funerary complex, a small man in a black robe, his hood up, also. In keeping with the long-held tradition that only those of royal blood could set foot inside the complex, this man was in fact a blood relative, though distantly removed; illegitimate children of the Imperial Family were often sent down here to become caretakers and artisans, decorating the tombs that only their family would ever see.

The keeper met her eyes silently, gesturing toward the waiting alcoves. Ordinarily, he and his fellow keepers would have carried the caskets down the hall here, but today they merely waited inside to help Zelda guide the caskets into their resting places.

She held the Emperor and Empress outside, saving them for last, and sent the other caskets inside, where the keepers took hold of them and slowly, carefully slid them into the marked alcoves, all of which were inscribed with the same date, an extreme rarity in this complex.

When the rest of the family had been placed inside, Zelda brought Empress Katarina's casket inside to the central pedestal, where a second step had been added for her, slightly lower than the first Empress', on the other side of where Zelda's uncle would go.

Though she had despised the woman in life, Zelda nevertheless lowered Katarina's casket with slow dignity onto the pedestal, positioning her perfectly on the center.

As per tradition, Zelda laid her hands upon her uncle's casket as she guided it inside. Usually, his younger sons would have assisted the heir in this, but since they, too, lay silent within their own caskets, she used her powers to do the actual lifting.

When her uncle was positioned on his pedestal, Zelda removed her hands and stepped back.

"Hail the Empress," the head keeper murmured, his voice barely above a whisper. The others repeated him, none of them meeting her eyes.

Zelda nodded once, then turned to walk alone back to the entrance.

* * *

The pale moon hung round and full high above Hyrule, trickling silver radiance down through the clouds to cast the high stone walls of Castle Town in stark relief. Erike paced along the battlements of the castle wall, one hand resting on the scimitar at her side while her sharp green eyes roved along the defenses, watching for any irregularities.

Over the course of the last week, she, her sister, and her friends had fended off wave after wave of attacks by the Divine Host, losing more soldiers on their side in each short, furious battle, while the enemy's numbers seemed limitless. Earlier today, the attacks had abruptly stopped, and no one could quite explain why.

Erike knew she should be resting, but she had seen Ganondorf head off in the direction of the Royal Archives earlier, and she had decided to wait up here for him to sneak out of the skylight again. Tonight, she was going to find out what he was doing in there, and why he didn't want anyone to know what he was researching.

Majacen had provided her with a discreet tracing powder, one that was invisible except under a certain kind of light, which he had also provided in the form of an oddly shaped pair of eyeglasses she could wear when she wanted to follow the trail. Erike had scattered the powder over the skylights above the Archives earlier today, and had also left some just outside Ganondorf's room, where he was sure to walk through it.

She would not think of doing this to anyone else in the castle, but Ganondorf's disposition had grown increasingly antagonistic over the last several days, to the point where Erike was beginning to think he was actively trying to pick a fight with Daskin for some reason.

The more time he spent in the Archives, the angrier Ganondorf seemed to become; Erike was certain that whatever he spent his nights reading there was something she and her sister should know about. Lynaka had just told her to be patient, and that despite his displays of temper, Ganondorf truly was on their side in all this, but despite her sister's assurances, Erike was still suspicious of the reincarnated Dark Lord.

A flicker of movement drew her eye, and Erike crouched down, eyes locked on the skylight above the Archives. She made sure she was within a shadow, totally invisible in the dim moonlight. As she had suspected, the figure was Ganondorf, revealed by his size and the way he moved.

Erike watched Ganondorf close the skylight, lock it, then move away. With a tremendous, superhuman leap, he returned to the tower which contained his room, where she could just barely see his shadowy outline open the window and climb inside.

So, that explained how he was getting into the Archives without anyone seeing him, Erike thought. Rather than use his same entrance, Erike decided to go through the front door and trace his path inside from there.

Quickly, she made her way down to ground level and hurried through the corridors of Hyrule Castle to the Archives. Unsurprisingly, since it was near midnight, the doors were locked and the lanterns extinguished.

However, Erike had had the foresight to apprise the Chief Archivist of her activities tonight; Shad had given her a spare key, and now she made use of it. Quickly but quietly, she unlocked and opened the door, moving soundlessly inside before closing it after herself.

Once inside, among the seemingly endless shelves lit by only a few lanterns and the moonlight streaming in through the skylights, Erike fished the glasses Majacen had given her out of her pocket and put them on. Immediately, she saw what appeared to be footprints made of light on the floor, and she headed straight for them, listening for any sign of activity.

The footprints led back to the section devoted to her people, where Erike saw fingerprints equally as bright on quite a number of the volumes. Erike peered at the titles in the dim lighting, but none of them attracted her interest. Most of the volumes that Ganondorf had handled were histories from the period of the Blood Curse and several centuries afterward, along with several scholarly works on Gerudo culture in general; nothing inflammatory.

One entitled '_Thieves of the Western Desert_' sat on its side in an empty place on the shelf, placed haphazardly as if Ganondorf had thrown it there in irritation. Erike picked up the book and held it near the orange cone of light cast by a nearby glass-enclosed lantern.

The introduction at the front of the book revealed it to be less of a treatise and more of a manifesto, one advocating the total genocide of the Gerudo in retribution for Ganondorf's invasion nearly one hundred fifty years ago. The author argued that the Gerudo were so damaging trade with Calatia and the coastal cities by their 'constant' attacks on merchant caravans that they revealed themselves to be 'more vermin than human beings; extinction is the only fate fitting for them' and so on.

Erike snapped the book closed in disgust and shoved it back on the shelf. She knew the ravings of an extremist did not dictate the policies of an entire nation, but it was still profoundly irritating to see such hate directed at her people.

Was there more like this in here? Was this what was making Ganondorf so angry? Was he coming in here to read the racist literature published by angry survivors of his conquest?

The hatred ran deep on both sides, she knew; despite two decades of peace and prosperity, nearly two millennia of antagonism was not going to disappear immediately.

Erike was about to pick up another volume when she heard the faint sound of an alarm bell from deep within the castle. Immediately, she sprinted back toward the entrance, moving much faster than was possible for an ordinary human due to the belt she had acquired from the Heavenly Vault. The bookshelves whipped past, followed by the corridors of the castle; in her hurry, Erike did not even close the doors behind her, allowing them to slam open from the force of her momentum.

Less than a minute later, Erike slowed to a stop outside the Queen's chambers, where a group of dark-clothed Sheikah stood with drawn weapons around a dark-haired man in servants' livery, his hands tied behind his back and blood oozing from a split lip.

"What's going on?" Erike asked.

"Assassin," one of the Sheikah said, turning to her. "We caught him trying to sneak into this corridor with this." The woman held up a small green phial filled with some evil-looking liquid.

"May I see it?" Majacen's voice asked from behind them.

Erike turned to see the wizard, garbed as usual in his dark brown robe and gray cloak, his sword at his side, approaching with one hand held out. The Sheikah handed the phial to the wizard, who peered at it suspiciously.

Majacen shot a glare at the man the Sheikah had captured. "This is a poison," he explained. "When exposed to air, it expands quickly to create a choking gas; this entire tower would have been affected if he had released it."

Daskin jogged up with Lynaka two steps behind, both of them fully dressed and armed despite the late hour. "What's happening?"

A muffled explosion outside interrupted Erike's reply. Only a moment later, a soldier barreled into the corridor, bellowing, "Attack! We're under attack!" at the top of his lungs.

Daskin groaned. "Again? Don't these people have anything better to do?"

"Come on!" Lynaka said, immediately turning to run back down the corridor. Erike and Daskin followed close behind her.

Outside, they were met with a chaotic scene; alone, Ganondorf was smashing his way through a platoon of black-and-purple-uniformed Divine Host soldiers to get to their commander, a sorcerer clothed in the typical heavily brocaded black and purple robe, gloved and hooded with only luminous amethyst eyes visible beneath his hood.

Lynaka immediately leaped from the battlement, drawing the Master Sword on the way down. Daskin followed a step behind, and he caught her hand in mid-air. He spun, building up momentum, and then released his grip, sending the Hero soaring down into the group of enemy soldiers.

The Master Sword flashed white in the moonlight, descending upon the creature-soldiers with rapid fury. In only moments, four of them exploded into orange-flecked black smoke. Screams and fierce cries combined with the clash of colliding steel, and Lynaka was soon invisible behind a wall of black smoke but for the flashing of her blade.

Still hovering, Daskin gripped his sword with one hand, and with the other, sent out a roiling pyrotechnic eruption of flame mixed with lightning, aimed right at the enemy sorcerer. The hooded man summoned a crystalline shield around himself, and the flaming lightning splashed over it, deflected into the men around him.

Erike took a running leap, relying on her enchanted belt, and with its enhanced speed, flew down into the courtyard below, sprinting into the tangle of combatants as soon as her feet touched the ground. Her scimitar flashed with deadly speed, cutting down half a dozen enemies before they could even swing their weapons at her.

She threw herself into the battle, her focus narrowing down to split-second reactions, looking for openings in her opponents' defenses and taking them as soon as she was able.

Through the flow of battle, Erike quickly found herself alongside her sister and Ganondorf, forming a triangle with their backs to each other as they fought off the seemingly endless horde of enemy soldiers. Time ceased to have meaning for her; there was only battle, moving from one opponent to the next, attacking and defending in turn.

Suddenly, the world around her rocked with an ear-splitting peal of sound and a tremendous flash of light. Erike reflexively brought a hand in front of her eyes, and when her vision adjusted, she, Lynaka and Ganondorf stood alone within a slowly revolving magical barrier.

"How amusing," the sorcerer said, his voice deep but distorted by an eerie echo. "Gerudo fighting in defense of Hyrule. Twenty years ago, one would have thought this an impossibility."

"It makes no sense to fight amongst ourselves when faced with a greater threat," Lynaka said. She slashed at the barrier with her sword, but only a flash of light and a rippling effect in the barrier's surface was the result.

Outside, Daskin unleashed a magic attack upon the barrier, but he had little more success than Lynaka. The sorcerer cast him an annoyed glance, summoning another barrier around him that pinned the young man to the wall.

"Who are you?" Ganondorf growled, his hands clenched around his massive war-axe.

The robed figure crossed his arms. "I am known as the Warlock," he replied. "The Dark God's greatest mortal servant. Fitting that you should be the one to ask, Ganondorf, for you are the one with whom I have come to speak."

* * *

To Zelda, the weight of the Imperial crown seemed to press her down, making it difficult to rise once the Prime Minister of Calatia placed it upon her brow.

Resplendent in an elaborate gown fashioned in the royal family's colors, Zelda stood before the massive front doors of the Imperial Palace, surrounded on all sides by Calatian soldiers and dignitaries. A sea of faces spread out before her, completely filling the courtyard formed by the inner defensive wall. Even the walls were lined with people, all looking down at her.

Zelda had always known a day like this was coming; she had been training for it her entire life. From the time she had been a little girl, she had known she would someday rule a nation. One day, she would stand before her people and accept a crown, be declared a ruler whom all looked to, trusted to guide and protect them.

But she had expected that nation to be her home, Hyrule, the place she felt she belonged. Here in Calatia, despite her frequent visits during her childhood, she felt like a stranger, an outsider who did not belong. Now an empire that spanned most of a continent was her responsibility. She would be forced to remain here for the rest of her life; in fact, there was a very real possibility that she would never see Hyrule again.

"All hail Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Zelda the First!" the herald cried, accompanied by a grand fanfare.

The people cheered, but Zelda felt not even a hint of cause for celebration. Despite the fact that she was now the most powerful and influential woman on this entire continent, she did not feel privileged. Instead, the crown felt like a crushing burden, one which she had no hope of ever lifting away from herself.

Empress Zelda waited for the cheering to die down before she began the speech she had written. A last deep breath, one last pause, before she took control of an empire.

"My people," she began, "I come to you in the midst of great tragedy. My family has been slain by our enemies, their lives cut short by those who would invade our home and take it from us, those who would see civilization topple, who would see mankind descend into barbarism and ignorance once again.

"The Divine Host is the name of this horde, this army that would destroy all that we have built and enslave us all to their dark master. One of their servants, a sorcerer named Ibnis who worked his way into my uncle's confidence, is the man who killed the Emperor and his children, and very nearly me as well."

The crowd surged with a wave of angry muttering, precisely the effect Zelda desired.

"My people, I say that we take the fight to them!" Zelda shouted, gesturing out over the crowd. "They have tried to bring us to our knees, but let us show this Divine Host that the mighty empire of Calatia tolerates no threats to its security. Let us send our armies to hunt them down and exterminate this horde from the face of the world!"

Wild cheering erupted from the crowd. It was almost disturbing to see and sense the bloodthirstiness of her new subjects, but Zelda knew she would have to harness this mood in order to support her plans for the empire.

"Our ally Hyrule is the worst besieged by this horde," Zelda continued once the cheering faded. "My first act as Empress will be to send our legions to the aid of the Golden Kingdom. Twenty-five years ago, when the armies of the Dark Lord Raneses laid siege to this city, Hyrule did not hesitate to send the Triforce Bearers to our defense. Now that their need is great, we must not hesitate to lend our military might to them!"

Again, more approving cheers. Calatia had been hurt, and now it wanted its revenge; Zelda could provide an outlet for the empire's collective rage, and use it to do some good.

"Send out the word!" Zelda commanded. "Calatia's armies must make ready to cross the ocean to Hyrule, to bring the fight to the Divine Host before they can land their armies on our own shores!"

Amidst yet another wave of cheers, Zelda allowed herself a moment of grim contemplation; history would judge her for her words today. If, by some wild hope, the Divine Host did not successfully complete what Raneses had tried to do before she was born, if there was still an empire in a hundred, a thousand years, would she be praised or condemned for what she set in motion today?

With the reserved, quiet dignity of true royalty, Zelda accepted her fate. She would do what must be done.

* * *

Aeron slowly faded back to consciousness, hearing unintelligible whispers somewhere above him before finally his thoughts gained a measure of clarity.

"You are sure?" a heavily accented voice asked, male and reedy.

"Positive," a second voice answered, female and also accented, but not the same as the first; Aeron knew he recognized the accent, but could not put a name to it right now.

"I suppose he could be useful," the man said.

It was then Aeron discovered that he was unable to open his eyes or move. He surged with panic, and when he still remained completely paralyzed, his panic only raged worse before he used his tremendous self-will to force himself to remain calm. It was difficult, but Aeron knew his life might depend on what he could learn from listening to these two. He built up his walls of self-control, forcing his thoughts into disciplined, rigid clarity.

"Imagine," the woman said. "A spy in Viserys' very highest ranks, one he will trust beyond anyone else! If we use his own son against him, we can topple his nation in weeks, not years!"

"He is just as strong-willed as his father," the man said. "If you remember, those crystals we designed for Lord Raneses didn't work on Viserys; somehow he was able to wrench himself free. What's to say his son won't be able to do the same? The effect is still the same, regardless of the method of applying it."

"He is awake," a third voice said, this one also male, but cold and extremely precise in its diction. "Your paralyzing enchantment is still in place, but the subject has regained consciousness."

"How do you know, Zherron?" the woman said. "He still looks asleep to me."

"I have devoted my life to the study of humanoid biology," the cold, clinical voice replied. "There are subtle differences between a body in a state of sleep and a body in a state of alertness, despite your enforced lack of movement. I would estimate he has heard everything you have said in the last minute and forty-five seconds."

The man muttered something angry-sounding in a foreign language, but the woman merely said calmly, "Then I suppose we'd better get started."

* * *

"What do you want with me?" Ganondorf demanded of the Warlock.

Erike watched as the two men stared one another down, glaring fiercely across the slowly revolving magic barrier.

"I have been sent to ask you why you break your agreement," the Warlock said angrily. "My master the Dark God preserved your life when the Queen of Twilight slew you, and arranged for you to be reborn. Why do you now fight against him?"

"_What?_" Lynaka shouted at their companion, drawing her sword. "Is this true?"

Ganondorf looked upon her without guile or remorse. "It is," he replied calmly. "Our arrangement was that he would preserve my life and arrange for me to be reborn, and in return I would once again acquire the Triforce of Power and use it to further his cause."

Erike felt her lips pulling back over her teeth in a betrayed, enraged expression. She drew her own scimitar, ready to cut Ganondorf down on a moment's notice.

"Then it's all been a lie?" Lynaka demanded, her knuckles white around the hilt of the Master Sword.

Ganondorf met her eyes seriously. "My objective has always been to break the Blood Curse and provide for my people. When the Dark God made his offer to return me to life, of course I took it; with the Triforce in my possession once again, I could finally complete my goals."

"Is this why you turn against us, Ganondorf?" the Warlock asked.

"I turned against you when I learned it was your master who placed the Blood Curse upon my people to begin with!" Ganondorf snarled. "How could I ever serve a god who placed a cruel and unjust punishment upon my people?"

"Is that all?" the Warlock said unconcernedly. "If it will please you, I will remove this curse from your people. The truce is broken; the gods and their servants may now act without restriction."

"Do you speak truly?" Ganondorf asked.

"Don't listen to him!" Erike exclaimed, stepping forward to place her hand on his arm. "He's lying!"

Ganondorf looked down at her, an unreadable expression on his face.

"I give you my word and that of my master," the Warlock said. "If you aid us, Ganondorf, we will spare the Gerudo, and will give them whatever country you desire as reward for your service. You may even have Hyrule if you wish it."

Ganondorf looked at him for a long moment, thinking.

Erike felt the muscles in his arm tense, and she started to move back, knowing even before he acted what Ganondorf's decision had been. As quick as a striking snake, Ganondorf grabbed her by the neck and slammed Erike into the barrier beside them.

She screamed as the energy coursed into her, numbing her body, and finally, when he released her, she slumped to the ground. Erike lay there, unable to move, unable to do anything but watch as Lynaka attacked Ganondorf with a fierce cry, her sword gleaming.

Furious, Lynaka whipped her sword through a blisteringly fast offensive pattern, surging at Ganondorf with all the raw fury of a desert sandstorm. Like an immovable crag, he withstood her attack, turning aside her strikes with his war-axe, before finally, he struck back.

With a powerful sweep of his axe, Ganondorf knocked Lynaka's sword aside, then he delivered a fierce kick to her chest that sent the Hero tumbling backwards into the barrier. Lynaka screamed as the barrier's energy lashed into her, but she pulled herself away, bringing up her sword again.

Twice more, Lynaka and Ganondorf exchanged furious blows before he knocked her into the barrier again. When she dragged herself to her feet for the second time, Ganondorf stepped back.

"I will spare you if you surrender now, Hero," he said. "It is foolish to fight for those who are not your family. If these Hylians had their way, they would have killed us all a century ago!"

"Because of _you_!" Lynaka spat, attacking again. She hacked at him twice before stepping back. "You claim that you want only the best for the Gerudo, but again and again you hurt us. Every time you appear to us, you leave us in greater ruin!"

Ganondorf lowered his axe and took a step back. "I will ask you one more time," he said warningly. "Join with me and live, along with our people, or side with Hyrule, and I will kill you now."

Lynaka's reply was to raise her sword and leap at him, shouting fiercely.

As Erike watched, trying to overcome the numbness to join her sister's fight, Ganondorf stepped to the side to avoid Lynaka's attack and snatched a dagger from his belt.

Before Lynaka could turn around, Ganondorf reached out with one long, massive arm and plunged the dagger up to the hilt in her back.

Erike could only scream in rage and disbelief, and this she did, furiously trying to regain enough feeling in her body to run to her sister's aid. But her body betrayed her; she could do nothing but watch, no matter how much she tried. Her fingers scraped through the mud as she tried to push herself up, but her arms had no strength.

Lynaka stumbled, and the Master Sword slipped from her fingers. As she dropped to her knees, she met her sister's eyes, then glanced up and behind her to where Daskin screamed in pain and denial, pinned to the wall by his own barrier.

Without a word, the life went out of Lynaka's eyes and she dropped to the ground, golden light flaring on her hand.

Erike leaped to her feet, feeling the vigor rage brings, and she ran at Ganondorf, stopping only to snatch up her sister's weapon before she charged at him, shrieking with anger.

It seemed to Erike that a brilliant light flared up around her, flowing through her with a burning sense of power and determination. She accepted it without question, hurling herself at her sister's killer.

But before she could reach him, Ganondorf disappeared, along with the barrier, the remaining Divine Host soldiers, and the Warlock, whisked away in a swirl of purple fire.

Erike's cry of rage took a frustrated turn into sorrowful agony as she slumped to her knees in the mud beside her sister's lifeless body.

* * *

Author's Note: I think that's the fastest I've updated this story in about six months. Get used to it; I'm already almost done with Chapter 18, and I'll be trying to maintain this pace right up until the end. As always, thanks for reading!


	18. Eclipse

Eighteen

(Eclipse)

Erike would never remember what she said or did for several minutes after her sister's death; when she finally came back to herself, her hands ached, and she was dimly aware that they were wet.

Only when she looked down did she realize she had beaten them bloody against the stone wall beside her sister's body. She turned to see her father holding Lynaka in his arms, tears soaking his beard as he shouted himself hoarse with grief.

Raised voices behind her attracted Erike's attention, and she turned to see Daskin with clenched hands standing in front of his mother, shouting at her through his own tears.

"There has to be something you can do!" he said, wrenched with pain.

Midna turned sorrowful eyes upon her son. "I'm sorry, Daskin," she said quietly. "I can't fix this. She's gone."

At this, Daskin turned and let out such an agonized scream, almost a howl, that Erike felt her own emotions welling up inside her in another surging tide, threatening to overwhelm her again.

She heard her breath coming in shuddering gasps through clenched teeth, and she felt her hand tightening on the hilt of the sword she held.

"Erike?" Majacen's voice said gently beside her.

Something in her snapped at the sound of the wizard's voice. Erike swung her sword at him in pure, unthinking rage. "_This is YOUR fault!_" she screamed at him in near-incoherent Gerudo.

With surprising speed, Majacen dodged her blind swing, stepping back with his hands raised.

"_YOU let him in!"_ Erike shouted. "_You decided to trust him, even after all he had done, and THIS is what's come of that._"

Majacen's face was sorrowful beneath his thick white beard. He said nothing as Erike dropped her weapon and beat on his chest with her fists, finally collapsing into sobs in his arms.

* * *

Later, when they had all regained some measure of control over themselves, Erike stood by a pillar in the enormous secondary throne room at the base of Hyrule Castle's central keep, furiously trying to stop weeping. She stared at her hand, concentrating on the triangle-of-triangles symbol now etched there in black like a brand.

She was the Hero now; the Triforce of Courage resided within her. The Master Sword had accepted her as its bearer, and now she wore the legendary weapon on her belt, at Majacen's insistence.

Erike concentrated on the new energy flowing through her, breathing deeply as she struggled to regain control.

Next to her, Arnak sat on the floor, his elbows propped on his knees as he held his head in his hands. He had said nothing since they had come here; the only sound Erike could hear from him was his ragged breathing.

Through her own grief, Erike soberly regarded her father; this was not the first child he had lost. Her family did not talk about Arnak's first wife often, but Erike knew that she had been pregnant when Raneses' army had destroyed their village and killed her.

Erike's loss was great, but her father's was greater still. From that fact, Erike drew determination, an effort to retain control, to be strong for her family's sake.

"I don't know what the rest of you plan to do, but I'm taking the fight to them," said Daskin, pacing back and forth in front of Erike and her father. "I'm going to kill Ganondorf if it's the last thing I ever do, and I'm going to make sure he _stays_ dead this time."

"You cannot," Majacen said calmly. "Hyrule needs you here, and-"

"I don't _care_ what Hyrule needs!" Daskin shouted, rounding on the wizard. "I _loved_ her, and he _took her from me!_ My sole purpose in life is now to end his! You can't understand that, because all you care about are your Goddesses and their-"

"I understand only too well what you feel, young one," Majacen interrupted, a hint of steel entering his formerly gentle voice. His dark green eyes flashed with sudden anger as he took a step towards the young man. "Do not assume yours are the only loved ones taken by agents of the Dark God."

"So what am I supposed to do?" Daskin demanded. "Keep fighting? Stay here and wear myself ragged against wave after wave of soldiers that just keep _coming back_?" He angrily thrust out his arm to indicate the courtyard outside. "NO!"

Daskin strode up to the wizard and glared down at him. "I already told you what I'm going to do, and you can't stop me. Either I kill him, or he kills me. No other option."

"I'm going with you," Erike said, moving over to stand next to him. "You'll need my help."

"Please," Majacen pleaded, looking at both of them, "I know it is difficult now, but you must see reason. Both of you are needed here to defend Hyrule!"

"Hyrule can defend itself!" Daskin said with cold fury. "And if it can't, it can rebuild. It ends _here_, do you understand?" He clenched his hand around the hilt of the Twilight Blade at his side. "If Ganondorf is going to fight for the Divine Host now, he's naturally going to become a high-ranking member. If I can find him, I'll find the rest of the enemy leadership. And then I'm going to kill every one of them. I'm not letting this war go any further than it has."

"You are allowing your grief to cloud your judgment," Majacen began, but Daskin interrupted again.

"No, I'm letting it show me what we all should have done a long time ago," he snarled. "Look around!" he shouted. "The people in this room are among the most powerful in the world. Why, I ask you, did we all not immediately team up when you saw fit to tell us about the Divine Host and go wipe them out?"

Majacen sighed, visibly trying to keep his patience. "You have no idea of the enemy's power," he said, but once again, Daskin shouted over the top of him.

"I don't _care_!" he shouted. "You're still thinking in terms of rules," he said. "You said it yourself, and the Warlock confirmed it. The little chess game the Dark God has going with the Goddesses just escalated into one big free-for-all, and I want a piece of it. If your Goddesses will give me the power to destroy Ganondorf forever, fine, but if they're too busy doing whatever it is they do with eternity, I'll do it on my own!"

Before Majacen could do anything else, Daskin turned to Erike and met her eyes. "We're going now," he said. "Are you ready?"

Erike nodded determinedly, and in the next second, the world around her faded into black as he transported them both away.

* * *

Aeron awoke in a dark cell, lit only by a sputtering torch outside. As another droplet of grimy water hit his face, he realized that this was what had awoken him.

Through the pounding, burning ache in his head, Aeron tried to remember where he was and what he was doing here. He remembered his airship being shot down and crashing, and something about some people discussing mind-control, but the voices and images faded like mist when he concentrated. There was something he was supposed to do, but he could not remember.

Aeron groaned as he sat up, feeling a burning ache in his arm. In the flickering light, he pulled back his torn uniform sleeve to reveal a ragged gash in his arm, now crusted over and unhealthy-looking.

Gritting his teeth, Aeron pulled off his jacket and undershirt, then scrubbed at the wound with his fingernails, cleaning it as best he could with the slowly dripping water next to his head. He tore off the left sleeve of his shirt, then ripped it into strips and wrapped some of these around the wound. When he was done, he tore the other sleeve off his shirt, then put it back on and stuffed what was left of his sleeves into the pockets of his jacket.

As he shifted on the damp stone floor, Aeron realized he was not alone in the cell. He peered through the shadows at the slender shape huddled against the far wall.

"Hello there," Aeron said, surprising himself at how hoarse his voice was. He swallowed past a painfully dry throat and spoke again. "Are you awake?"

His cellmate spoke in Kalean, from the sound of her voice a young woman. "_Please,_" she said, clearly terrified, "_do not hurt me."_

Aeron switched to the same language to show her that he meant no harm. "_I won't hurt you,_" he said. As he looked closer, he realized that the woman wore only a ragged shift, what might have been the remnants of a nightgown. He extended his jacket toward her. "_Here, take it._"

When she warily shuffled a few feet forward, Aeron saw her dark, matted hair and the dirt and grime caked on her face. Blue eyes gleamed under the knotted fringe of hair, regarding him suspiciously as she accepted the jacket and pulled it on.

"_You're an officer in the fleet?_" she said, glancing down at the rank insignia on the collar.

"_That's right_," Aeron replied. "_I'm the captain of a warship, the _Auric Raptor_."_

"_My husband serves on one of the airships,_" the woman said, relaxing slightly. "_The _Silver Eagle."

Aeron smiled. "_I served on that ship when I was a lieutenant,_" he said. "_What's your husband's name? I might have served with him._"

"_Wolfram,_" she replied. "_He's… he only joined a year ago._"

Aeron nodded. "_I recognize the name, but I don't know if we ever met. Is he the same Wolfram who led the uprising in Charadd?_"

The woman nodded, smiling with pride. "_Yes._" She pulled Aeron's jacket tighter around herself as her smile faded. "_I think he's the reason our village was attacked,_" she said. "_I think the men were slavers, getting their revenge. Their leader kept asking if he was there."_

"Slavers?" Aeron said aloud, unconsciously slipping back to his native tongue. "What is this place?"

"I speak this language, also," the woman said, though her accent was heavy. "This place is a fortress in the jungle sixty miles west of Charadd. I watched as they brought us here in the wagons. I have been here for almost a month, I think. I have seen no one from my village since then. There was one other man who was here before you, but they took him away days ago."

She pulled on the cuff of the jacket. "Forgive me for not introducing myself," she said. "I am Levia."

"Aeron," he replied, gesturing to himself. "Who was this man?"

"He looked like you," said Levia, "but he did not wear a uniform. He wore something on his face at first, circles made of glass, before they were broken." She pantomimed a pair of glasses. "He had eyes like yours." Levia paused for a moment, her face twisted up in thought, before she finally said the word in her own language. "_Purple,_" she said in Kalean. "_His eyes were purple, like yours._"

Aeron froze, and he leaned closer to her. "Did he say his name?" he asked.

"I do not think so," she said. "The man who came to get him called him 'Oris', I think. He spoke a language I did not know."

"Horys?" Aeron demanded. "Was that the name?"

Levia nodded, her large blue eyes meeting his curiously. "Yes, 'Oris. The dark man called him that."

"Who was this dark man?" Aeron asked, dreading the answer. Too much of this was lining up for this to be a coincidence. "What did he look like?"

"Tall," the woman said immediately. "He was the tallest man I've ever seen. He had dark skin and red hair, and his eyes were yellow." Levia shuddered. "He was evil-looking."

Aeron's brow creased in thought as he pondered this. It couldn't be…

He decided to try a different tack. "Was there anyone with Horys?" he asked. "A woman, perhaps, with dark red hair and pointed ears?"

"No," Levia replied. "No one like that. Did you know 'Oris?"

Aeron nodded slowly. "He's my brother. But what's he doing here? I thought he went to Calatia with Zelda."

"Zelda!" Levia said excitedly. "'Oris said that name to the giant man. I do not know what he said, but the giant man hit him when he said it."

Aeron was about to say something, but the door at the far end of the hall creaked open, and heavy, metallic footsteps came marching down the hall, accompanied by the sound of leather creaking and armor rattling.

A huge man in gold-edged black armor strode into view, a long black cloak with a deep purple lining sweeping back from his shoulders. At his side was a jet-black sword with a blood-red gem set in the center of the crossguard, matched by intricate inlaid designs on the scabbard.

Levia gasped. "That's him!" she whimpered. "That's the man that took 'Oris away!"

"You must be Aeron," the huge man rumbled in a deep but surprisingly smooth voice. He smirked sardonically. "I am Ganondorf."

"Impossible!" Aeron exclaimed. "You're dead!"

Ganondorf smirked again. "As you will learn, boy, death means little to the gods and those empowered by them." He reached for the door of the cell. "Now," he said, "I understand you're being difficult. My new allies have a task for you, and you are making things… problematic for them."

Aeron did not consider himself a cowardly man, but it was difficult to keep control of himself at the sheer malice that entered Ganondorf's expression as he showed his teeth in a fierce grin.

"So they sent me. Let's begin, shall we?"

* * *

When the world faded back into being around her, Erike looked around to find herself and Daskin in a clearing in a seething jungle, the dense, dripping foliage around them boiling with sound and movement. Only when several droplets hit her face and bare arms did Erike realize it was raining, what little of the sky that could be seen through the dense canopy covered by thick clouds flickering with lightning.

To their right, the enormous shape of the volcano that housed the Heavenly Vault rose up in terrible, smoking majesty through the trees, its summit glowing a deep orange with the power of the elemental forces caged within its sloping sides.

The pouring rain quickly soaked both of them, plastering Daskin's shoulder-length hair to his face and neck. Erike felt the water soaking into her own braid, running in rivulets onto her neck and down her back. Instead of seeking shelter, by some silent, mutual agreement, Erike and Daskin remained where they were for a moment, looking up at the volcano in the darkness of the storm.

"You can get into the vault," Daskin shouted to her over the wind and rain. "Look for anything we can use as a weapon, especially against magic-users, and bring it back out."

"Didn't Majacen adjust the seal on the entrance so that you could get in, too?" Erike replied, blinking away the water running into her eyes.

Daskin frowned briefly before nodding. "Yeah, he did," he said, quietly enough that Erike almost couldn't hear him over the rain. "All right, let's go!" he said more loudly.

Quickly, the two of them picked their way through the foliage to the entrance carved into the side of the mountain. Erike placed her hand on the massive stone door, and her Triforce flared to life in sync with a circular pattern that glowed with a bright silver light around her hand.

With a rumble and the deep scraping noise of stone on stone, the enormous, enchanted barrier moved aside, and Erike and Daskin stepped across the threshold. When they were only a few steps into the corridor, the huge stone door rumbled shut again, sealing out the fury of the storm.

As they moved deeper into the vault, the only sounds Erike could hear were their footsteps and the water dripping from their hair and clothes onto the dry stone floor. Occasional torches cast cones of hazy orange light through the corridor, throwing a dim, flickering luminance onto the two warriors, reflecting off of the gleaming metal of their weapons and buckles.

When they reached the main chamber, Erike spotted something on the floor that almost made her lose her composure. Daskin turned to her in response to her stifled sigh, his deep blue eyes curious.

"What is it?"

Erike knelt and touched the object she had seen, the severed rope of her sister's long red braid, lying on the floor where it had been hurled by Lynaka after their return from the past. She gently picked it up, then looked over at Daskin, who sighed himself, resting one hand on the weapon at his belt.

Solemnly, Erike grasped the end of her own brown braid and untied the leather thong that secured the end. Slowly, she worked her fingers through her hair, undoing the braid until it hung loose around her shoulders, reaching down past her waist.

She looked up at Daskin again as she stood. "Did my sister ever show you how to do the traditional warrior's braid?" she asked.

"Yeah, I helped her with it a few times," he said. "Why?"

Erike held up her sister's braid. "I… would like to work this into my hair," she said quietly. "In remembrance."

Daskin nodded soberly, stepping over to her. She handed him the long silken rope of her sister's hair, and he held it in his hands for a moment, looking down at it, before stepping behind her.

"What happened on your second trip to the past?" Erike asked. "How did you meet Ganondorf, and where did you find Akima?"

She heard Daskin sigh behind her, felt the gentle tugging at her scalp as he worked with her hair. "When we came back from our first trip through time," he said, barely contained anger in his voice, "Ganondorf was here waiting for us with Akima. Apparently, he knew what we were going to do, and he was already here when we all arrived the first time. He just waited for Majacen to open the vault and for you to leave, and then he came inside to wait for us to come back.

"My mother and I were ready to fight him, but he explained why he was here, and introduced us to Akima. He had found her a few years ago and explained to her that she was Raneses' daughter, his _only_ daughter, so she was the only living Gerudo who could help him break the Blood Curse. Apparently, he figured out that he had to travel back in time to find a non-cursed Gerudo male to father a child that would break the Curse in our own time. That was why Ganondorf wanted the Ocarina of Time, why he went into the Divine Host's hidden fortress somewhere down here to break Majacen out; he knew Majacen had it, and almost kept it for himself, but he also knew that Majacen knew how to use it to travel through time, something Ganondorf himself wasn't sure how to do."

"So he asked you to help him bring Akima into the past," Erike said.

"Right," Daskin replied. "He had already explained to her who she was and why only she could break the Blood Curse. Ganondorf's original intention had been to use the Ocarina to go back in time to help Raneses the Great kill Dra'Kul before he could cast the Blood Curse, but he knew Majacen would never let him do something like that, so he found another way to break the Curse."

He sighed, a half amused, half sad sound. "Lynaka asked Akima if she was willing to go along with all this, and she said she was, so we immediately decided to go right back to ancient times, so we'd have plenty of time in the modern day once we got back to finish out the plan before we met up with you again.

"My mother went first, with Akima, to a point about three years before the Blood Curse was cast. We altered my mother's appearance, of course, so Raneses the Great wouldn't recognize her when he saw the past version of her three years later. She posed as Akima's mother, and the two of them worked their way into the Raneses the Great's household. Eventually, he took Akima as one of his wives, and that's where the rest of us came in."

"What did you do?" Erike asked.

Daskin chuckled shortly, though it turned bitter towards the end. "It was actually Ganondorf's idea. We joined a rival tribe and lived with them for a few months, and when they attacked Raneses the Great, we went in with their raiders and 'kidnapped' Akima and my mother. We knew from the first time we'd gone into the past that Raneses the Great had been attacked by our rival tribe around that time, and he'd killed their king in revenge for kidnapping several of his wives and concubines, so we just joined the attack and returned to the present once we escaped.

"Ganondorf stayed with Akima at the Heavenly Vault while my mother and I went to the Twilight Realm to get this," Erike heard him pat the sword at his side, "and Lynaka and Majacen went to the Sacred Grove to get her the Master Sword. My mother decided to give me the Twilight Blade instead of keeping it herself, though later I learned that this was at Majacen's suggestion.

"Once we had all our equipment, we all came back to Castle Town, and not a moment too soon, for we found it under attack by the Divine Host. And that's when we met up with you." Daskin snorted bitterly. "I just can't believe I didn't see it sooner. I mean, Lynaka and I lived with Ganondorf among the rival tribe for months, but not once in all that time did he give the slightest hint that he was planning to betray us. He must have been planning it all along, though; I mean, why else would he just turn and kill her like that? It was much too sudden; he must have worked it out with the Warlock beforehand somehow." He touched her shoulder. "I'm done, by the way."

Erike pulled her braid over her shoulder, looking down at her sister's fiery red strands now mixed in with her own dark brown tresses. "Thank you," she said, turning to look up at him. "I have been thinking, myself," she went on. "I have gone over Ganondorf's conversation with the Warlock many times in my mind, and you are right; it was much too sudden. It seemed… forced; rushed, almost."

She took a deep breath, and to her chagrin, she shuddered with emotion despite herself. Erike forced herself to work past it, to keep her voice calm and level. "I agree," she said, letting her hand clench around the hilt of the Master Sword until her knuckles turned white. "There must be more going on here than we know. We should…" Erike clenched her teeth against another wave of emotion, waiting until she could force it aside before continuing. "We should return to the others, to seek the counsel of our parents and their allies before we go any further."

Erike felt a tear slide down her cheek, and she closed her eyes and took another deep breath, trying furiously to regain control of herself. "We cannot…" she trailed off as her voice broke, and she took another breath, pausing again.

"We cannot let our grief cloud our judgment," she finally managed. Erike looked up at Daskin, meeting his eyes. "I feel as you do," she said. "Almost all of me wants to go after Ganondorf now, to hunt him down and give him the death he so richly deserves, but another part of me screams for reason. To avenge Lynaka, to _truly_ avenge her, we must be careful."

She reached up to touch his shoulder. "We must make ourselves wait," she went on. "We must make a plan, a careful, _calculated_ plan, one that will succeed. We will accomplish nothing if we blindly chase after Ganondorf and get ourselves killed in the attempt."

Daskin met her gaze grimly for a long moment, his eyes furious, the muscles in his jaw working, his nostrils flared with his own emotion, before finally, he nodded in assent.

He sighed, his shoulders slumping as he allowed the anger to drain from his posture. "You're right," he agreed. Daskin took a deep breath of his own, looking around at the numerous shelves and alcoves filled with weapons and devices collected by his ancestor and Majacen.

"All right," he said, looking back down at her. "Let's take anything we think might be useful, and then we'll go back."

Erike nodded, then reached over to clasp his forearm in a warrior's salute. "Let's get started."

* * *

Empress Zelda looked at herself in the full-length mirrors that lined one corner of her rooms in the Imperial Palace, watching as the royal armorer and his assistants adjusted straps and shifted plates on the suit of armor she had commissioned for herself.

Zelda did want to lead her troops into battle, but knew that was not the wisest of choices right now. No, this armor was more symbolic than functional; she was preparing to send her empire into war, and this gleaming suit of richly engraved and adorned armor was to serve more as a public symbol of her resolve than as actual protection for her body.

However, once the armorers finished, Zelda herself would be going to work on the armor anyway, enchanting it with the most powerful protection she could provide, similar to Lord Fenris' own suit of magic armor. She did not intend to put herself on the front lines of battle, but as the Empress of one of the most powerful nations in the world, Zelda knew she would become a prime target for the Divine Host's assassins, if she was not already. With her trusted bodyguard out searching for her fiancé, Zelda's only protectors right now were the ordinary human Calatian guards, who, despite their skill and loyalty, would be useless against the Enemy's sorcerers.

"How is the fit, Your Majesty?" the chief armorer asked, raising his graying brows inquiringly.

Zelda shifted inside the gold-and-silver armor, turning her arms. "It's a little tight in the shoulders," she said. "I want to be able to move my arms more." She held her arms out to the side, showing that she could not raise her hands above her head.

The chief armorer looked thoughtfully at the pauldrons of the armor for a moment, then scribbled something in his notebook, murmuring to himself.

"Have you finished the design I am to engrave on the breastplate, Your Majesty?" one of his assistants inquired, a slender, blonde-haired young woman who wore her hair in an elaborate braid wrapped around her head.

Zelda nodded once, gesturing at a sheet of paper on a table across the room. One of her servants moved to fetch it, but it flew with a tug of telekinesis into her hand. Moving awkwardly, her arms made stiff by the too-tight armor, Zelda held the drawing she had completed this morning over her chest, where she wanted it engraved.

Her new personal emblem, which would be engraved on this armor and embroidered onto the flags of the legions, depicted the Calatian imperial eagle with its wings curved protectively around the Triforce, arrows gripped in its talons.

The young woman nodded approvingly as Zelda handed her the drawing. "Very good, Your Majesty. I will see to it that this is distributed among the flag-makers, as well."

Zelda inclined her head in acknowledgment, then returned her gaze to the mirror, mentally completing the armor. She would eschew a helmet, wearing instead a sturdier version of the Imperial crown. From her shoulders would hang a deep scarlet cloak embroidered with her personal emblem, lined in gold thread with the names of the previous rulers of Calatia and small Triforce symbols on the clasps. At her side, a sword, richly ornamented but fully battle-ready.

And, of course, the bracers she had taken from the Heavenly Vault would serve as the protection for her forearms; she had resolved to never take them off, so as to always be ready for a sudden attack. Zelda knew part of her increased powers stemmed from the enchanted bracers, but they merely amplified power; they did not give their bearer increased skill. The source of her new abilities was still a bit of a mystery.

As the armorers continued to work, Zelda wondered to herself what was keeping her friends; she had sent Val to ask Daskin to come to Calatia more than a week ago, and had received not even an acknowledgment in the meantime. What was keeping him?

A flicker of motion in the mirror drew Zelda's attention, and she glanced over to see the red eyes of her bodyguard Impa looking back at her from a shadowed corner of the room. Silently, she gestured that she wished to speak to Zelda privately and withdrew further into the shadows.

"Do you have what you need to finish?" Zelda asked.

The chief armorer nodded, making more notations as he glanced at the armor again.

"Very well; help me out of this," she said.

When they were done, Zelda dismissed them and her other servants, remaining behind in the long white silk tunic and scarlet leggings she wore under the armor. She moved barefooted across the plush carpet to a pair of deeply cushioned chairs, where she waited for her bodyguard.

"I have troubling news, my lady," Impa began gravely, her expression grim. "I believe Horys is alive, but I cannot get to him."

Zelda allowed herself a relieved sigh before she replied. "Why?"

"I have been searching for him for the better part of a week," Impa said. "I tracked him by questioning a few of the servants who had been around us when we were all under Ibnis' spell, and also by searching my own memories. My training in the mental disciplines allowed me to overcome the spell fairly quickly, but what I was surprised to discover was that Horys, though without magical ability, was somehow able to do the same."

Zelda's brows drew together in puzzlement. "What?"

Impa nodded. "From what I was able to discover by examining the structure of the spell, Ibnis overcame my own shields and set up a controlling pattern in my mind that was to make me unquestionably obedient to you, more specifically, the you he created with the enchantment he cast on your mind. I was to be little more than an automaton, mindlessly carrying out any task you assigned me."

The Sheikah warrior scoffed in disgust. "As I said, my training in the mental disciplines allowed me to overcome the spell on my own and dissolve it. I was able to do this relatively quickly, but once I was myself again, I was forced to hide in the lower levels of the palace for some time, until you also regained control."

Zelda frowned, a dark suspicion tugging at her mind. "I did something when I was not myself, didn't I?"

Impa looked away, her mouth set in a hard line. "Yes, my lady," she said quietly. "You…" She paused, frowning for a moment before continuing. "You commanded me to kill Horys when it was revealed that he had overcome his own mind control, and when I refused, you attacked me."

"Impa, I'm sorry-" Zelda began, lifting her hands from the arms of the chair, but Impa held up a hand, and she fell silent.

"It is all right, my lady," Impa said. "You were not yourself; I know this. There is no need to apologize." She shifted her feet, resting her hands on her belt, and continued. "Ibnis sent Horys away to his allies to be broken, while he continued to influence you. As I said, I was forced to hide in the lower levels of the palace to avoid you both, but once I sensed you using powerful magic, I ventured up to see what was happening."

"My father's family?" Zelda asked, her heart heavy within her chest with dread.

Impa shook her head. "I am sorry, my lady; I do not know what actually happened. When I arrived, you were fighting with Ibnis, and the two of you were casting so much magic that I was unable to trace the currents back to their source."

Zelda sighed shortly. "I suppose I shall never know what really happened," she said resignedly. She looked back up at her bodyguard. "You said you may know where Horys is now?"

The Sheikah warrior nodded. "Yes, my lady. I was present when Ibnis teleported Horys away, and though I was not able to follow him then, I did trace where he sent him. At your insistence, I left to search for him, and I believe I located him deep in the Far South."

Zelda waited for Impa to continue, despite the questions that burned within her.

"He is in a fortress controlled by the Divine Host," Impa went on. "I sensed many sorcerers much more powerful than myself inside, so I dared not enter. I knew that if I was detected, they would likely kill Horys and me also, and though I wanted to free him, I am no good to either of you dead. So, I returned here."

Frowning thoughtfully, Zelda pondered this, trying to determine how best to free the man she loved from the clutches of their enemy. She ached to go herself, but she knew she could not. Despite her feelings, now was not the time to leave Calatia; her people needed her too much.

"I will not leave your side again, my lady," Impa said, breaking into her thoughts. "Now that you have taken up the Imperial crown, the Divine Host will be trying to kill you more than ever, and you need me here to protect you." She leaned forward slightly, lowering her voice. "_I_ cannot be turned against you, Zelda, but there is nothing to stop Ibnis from enchanting one of your servants to kill you while you sleep. I have summoned additional Sheikah to watch the palace with me."

Zelda nodded in acquiescence. "Very well," she said. "I shall ask the Hero to rescue Horys if she can. Send one of your agents to determine the situation in Hyrule and report back to us. Tell him to locate Daskin and ask him again to come here; we will need him if the Divine Host attacks us here."

"Did you not send Val, my lady?" Impa asked.

"I did, but I have heard nothing from her since she left," Zelda replied.

Impa's mouth set into a grim line. "It is possible she was captured or killed, my lady; it is not like her to go this long without reporting in. Even with the Communication Stones blocked, she would have found some way to get word to you by now."

Zelda sighed again, massaging her temples with her thumb and middle finger. "So much has happened so quickly these last few days…"

"The burdens of a monarch are many," Impa said sagely. She reached out to clasp Zelda's shoulder, a rare gesture of affection. "But now I am here, and I will aid you as best I can."

Zelda reached up to pat her protector's hand gratefully. "Thank you, Impa," she said.

She took a deep breath as she stood. "Come," she said, looking up at the taller woman. "There is much work to be done."

* * *

Pain, sharp and stabbing, faded into a red darkness.

Silence.

Silence.

The black expanse stretched on into abyssal nothingness, a limitless void of pure nonexistence.

Time passed, centuries or merely seconds; it felt the same, a deep frigid numbness, a pain without name.

Suddenly, in the void, a spark of light, a tiny pin-prick of luminescence, blinding as the sun after the utter darkness.

The light cut its way through the void, swelling, expanding, rushing outward to replace the abyss with an unending gentle white glow, warm in its radiance.

A golden gleam shone in harmony with a pure, ethereal music to replace the terrible dark silence.

Life.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to Seldavia for beta reading. Chapter 19 is well on the way to completion, and should be up soon. Thanks for reading!


	19. Shadow and Flame

Nineteen

(Shadow and Flame)

Erike tightened the last strap on her new gold-inlaid dark brown leather bracers, which featured prominent Triforce symbols on the top among the intricate scrollwork. The label on the alcove in which they had been resting described them as 'power gauntlets', enchanted to increase the wearer's strength ten- to a hundred-fold, depending on the level of concentration. The label did not mention where Majacen and the Hero of Lightning had gotten them, but obviously Daskin's ancestor had modified them for his own use at some point.

While she waited for Daskin to finish searching one of the secondary chambers of the Heavenly Vault, Erike put the final touches on a jerkin she had fashioned for herself out of a tunic the Hero of Lightning had left behind.

The fabric was enchanted to automatically repair itself after any damage; Daskin had aided her with suspending the effect long enough to cut the large tunic down to something more her size. It now resembled a sleeveless vest, similar to what her sister had worn as Hero, adorned with a large Triforce design on the back and two small copies of her family's sigil on the shoulders. Daskin had also used magic to change the forest green garment to a lighter, more sandy shade of viridian, at her request.

Satisfied it was finished, Erike pulled the jerkin on over her short-sleeved shirt of chain-mail and fastened the loop-and-toggle ties. She looked at herself in a brightly polished shield nearby.

She now had the look of a Hero, she had to admit, but Erike privately thought to herself that despite the power that now flowed through her limbs, she did not feel like one.

All her life, she had lived in her sister's shadow; Lynaka had always been faster, stronger, more skilled with both scimitar and bow. Every time the sisters competed, Lynaka had come out the victor. Were either of them more competitive, it could easily have developed into a bitter rivalry, but instead of trying to surpass her sister in physical pursuits, Erike had chosen instead to focus on her own strengths, on the creative side of their heritage.

Though she had had little opportunity to practice for the last several months, the pen and the brush were her true tools, the page and the canvas the arenas where she felt she truly excelled. Though she trained alongside her parents and her sister, Erike did not feel that the art of battle was her true calling, as it had been her sister's.

Lynaka's blade had seemed an extension of her body; Erike had known when the Triforce of Courage passed to her sister that it could have found no more worthy bearer among their people. Lynaka had the true warrior's spirit; in time, she would have become a master of the blade worthy of legend.

And now Hyrule's defense was left to her, a girl who was a warrior only out of necessity, who preferred the library to the training room. Every Gerudo was required to master the blade; there were no exceptions. Every hand capable of gripping a scimitar's hilt was expected to wield it with skill beyond any other. The desert tolerated no weakness; to not fight was to die.

But still, despite her skill and the numerous battles in which she had participated, Erike did not feel at home on the battlefield the way her sister did, despite her attempts to make herself feel the rush that came from constantly evading death on all sides.

"Looks good," Daskin's voice said behind her.

Erike turned to find the young man standing behind her, garbed in his usual dark trousers, blue shirt and dark gray jacket, but aside from the belt that held the Twilight Blade, he now wore a baldric beneath his jacket, covered in small pockets and loops that held a variety of weapons, bottles, and other small items. The dark metal bracers he had acquired on their first visit here protruded from the cuffs of his jacket, but now they were adorned with two leather armbands set with a jewel in the center, one a deep fiery red and the other a pale icy blue.

His boots were also different; Erike recognized the Blast Boots he had examined on their previous visit here, the ones which Princess Zelda's fiancé Horys had teasingly not allowed him to try on.

She knew it had only been a few days, not even two weeks, since they had all come here the first time, but it seemed to Erike that a lifetime had passed since then. The girl that had come here with her sister seemed someone else entirely, someone whose world had not fallen apart in one terrible instant. There was still reason to smile or laugh then; now, there was only sorrow, and beneath it, a deep, simmering rage and the thirst for vengeance.

Daskin's deep blue eyes met hers sympathetically. "I can't believe she's gone, either," he said softly. "I keep expecting her to come running in here any minute now to show us she's fine, that we just left too soon and my mother or Majacen was able to heal her."

"But she's not coming back," Erike said quietly. "She's gone, and now we're left with…" She looked down at her hands, encased in fingerless gloves and gauntlets. "Just me," she finished, barely above a whisper.

Daskin laid a strong but gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey," he said softly. "Take it from someone who knows; the Triforce of Courage doesn't go to just anybody. You may not think so now, but you've got what it takes. Right now, you're the only person I'd count on to come with me on this thing."

Erike nodded gratefully. "Thank you."

Daskin grinned. "All right. Now come on; let's head back to Hyrule and make a plan. I want to end this before Ganondorf has time to spring whatever he and the Warlock have planned."

Together, they strode to the entrance to the vault, and Erike placed her hand on the massive stone door that sealed the cache away from the world.

As the door rolled away, revealing a thick night heavy with rain, Erike suddenly threw an arm in front of her companion to halt his exit. Something was wrong here; it might have just been her new, sensitive perceptions and enhanced reflexes, but something seemed different about the jungle outside. It didn't feel quite the same as it had when they had arrived.

"Just like your father," an unfamiliar deep male voice said from startlingly close by. "No imagination whatsoever. I knew you would head straight here. "

The hall behind them rang with twin ringing echoes as Erike and Daskin drew their swords in unison. Erike's sharp eyes probed the dark, rainy jungle, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice.

"Don't you make quite the pair," the voice continued, slightly distorted by a heavy, almost basso rumble underscoring the languidly pronounced words. "The son of a goat-herder turned Hero and a queen from another world, and the daughter of a desert raider and a blacksmith who ended up very far from home." The voice scoffed. "Look at you both, posturing with your weapons, as if either of you could ever measure up to any of the hands that have held those blades before you."

"Who are you?" Daskin shouted challengingly into the night, holding the softly glowing silver blade of his weapon before him.

"I am one against whom you are nothing, son of Fenris. Two of those that bore that name before you have been called Hero, yet neither of them ever faced one such as I."

"Show yourself!" Erike called out, still searching the jungle over the soft golden glow of the weapon in her hands. "Enough talk!"

The voice chuckled darkly, a chilling sound. "Bold words, daughter of the sands. In your stance you try to hold the speed of your mother, the strength of your father, and the courage of your sister. But you yourself cannot match up to any of them, weak as they may be. You are nothing. _Less_ than nothing. I could obliterate you with a mere touch of my power."

Erike allowed the cold fury in her core come to the surface; not a burning rage, but an icy detachment that smothered the fires of her emotions in a frigid wave, giving her control instead of impulse.

"Words," Erike said derisively. "Show yourself, if you are so powerful, instead of hiding in the dark like a coward."

Two spots of fiery, gleaming red, like hot coals, appeared in the darkness, disturbingly far above the ground. It took Erike a moment to realize that not only was the apparition less than four yards away, the eyes belonged to someone who had to be nine feet tall.

"Now you realize your folly," the voice said smugly. "No mortal do you face, pretender. Before you stands a **GOD!**"

Simultaneous with the powerful, unearthly rumble of the last word, twin bolts of lightning crashed to the forest floor behind the apparition, silhouetting a tremendous, powerfully built figure, like a man in shape but gargantuan in size.

"Mortal servants of the False Goddesses, behold Kharan the Strong, mightiest of all the gods!" bellowed the figure, spreading his massive arms far above their heads. Enormous teeth flashed in the darkness, revealing a sinister grin. "I have a message for the Three from my brother the God of Darkness. Every one of their mortal servants' lives are now forfeit. Every agent of theirs we find in the mortal realms will be sent back to them, to be destroyed in the final death at the hands of Setarekh the Glorious!"

At this, a crackling, swirling storm of violently churning red energy formed around the gigantic figure, rumbling with power as Kharan drew back his hands in preparation to unleash his fury upon them, his glowing red eyes blazing in the midst of the storm.

Erike gripped the Master Sword tightly, grimly facing what was about to happen to her. None could stand against the might of a god, but she would meet her end with honor. Next to her, Daskin stood with similar determination, the engraved designs on his bracers glowing blue-green with power as he concentrated, preparing some kind of desperate defense.

Kharan held back his scarlet tempest for what seemed like an eternity, letting it roil around him with pent-up fury, building strength. Despite the crimson swirls of light flashing around him, Erike could make out none of the enormous god's shadowy features aside from his brightly glowing eyes.

Finally, the great black arms swept down and forward, and the red tempest surged at Erike and Daskin, a great roaring surge of supernatural power annihilating anything in its path.

But before the crimson whirlwind reached them, a similarly tall but brightly glowing figure leaped in front of them and absorbed the fury of the storm with a golden shield. This figure, too, bore the countenance of a man of superhuman size, but where Kharan was shrouded in shadow, this figure radiated a bright golden light from his skin and raiment, like a sun in the darkness.

His hair was a fiery, coppery red, and long, falling in tightly curled strands around his head and shoulders, where it was matched by a long coppery beard curled in similar fashion. Golden armor decorated with what appeared to be rubies covered his body, and a long, shimmering red cloak that flickered as if woven from star-fire hung from his shoulders. In one hand, he held a shining golden spear; in the other, a huge, polished shield, which he used to hold back Kharan's assault.

Erike's astonishment at this majestic figure was doubled by another that joined him, a stunningly beautiful woman with features of superhuman perfection, who was of similar size and radiant countenance, her long, wavy hair seemingly spun from gold. She wore garments of flowing green over a similar suit of golden armor, and in her hands she held a magnificently crafted bow, longer than Erike was tall. On her back was a quiver full of golden, shining arrows, and she drew one of these and nocked it, aiming the powerfully glowing bolt at the dark, hulking shape of Kharan.

"You remember these bolts, Kharan," the goddess said threateningly. "Even the dark powers given to you by your rebel brother will not avail you against them. Surely you recall the wound I dealt you when last we fought!"

"You cannot stand against us both," her companion warned. The god raised his spear, its point aimed at the dark figure's chest. "Return to your dark realm, lest we destroy you!"

"Fools!" spat Kharan. "Not even your mothers can destroy me. If you attack, my retaliation will obliterate this entire forest!" He sneered at the goddess. "A daughter of Farore would not risk such a thing, one would think."

Kharan mockingly gestured to the goddess. "Attack me then, Venisa; all that will be accomplished here will be the marring of your beauty under the fury of my power. And Jyrad," he said, turning to the god. "Even your radiance cannot outshine the abyssal darkness at my command. You may think your combined strength beyond my own, but it is _you_ who are outmatched here."

The hulking dark figure straightened in the midst of his still-whirling scarlet tempest of light. "To you both I offer again the chance to side with us, to follow Setarekh to glory. You both were there, saw the example he made of Tonas; can either of you stand against such power? Would you not rather be on the side whose victory is all but assured?"

Venisa's reply was to loose her golden arrow at the rebel god; Kharan cried out in a deafeningly loud scream of pain as the bolt pierced his chest and waves of golden power washed over him in a furious tide. Before Kharan could steady himself, Jyrad leaped at the rebel god with spear outstretched, fiery cloak streaming out behind him.

Erike watched from the shelter of the doorway carved into the side of the volcano as the three titanic figures engaged in battle, their voices reverberating with supernatural echoes as they cried with fury, slamming their weapons against each other again and again.

Despite the rain, the very jungle around them caught fire as the gods battled. Daskin erected a shield around himself and Erike to block out the flames, their escape cut off by the terrific struggle before them.

Neither mortal spoke, utterly absorbed by a clash between titans the likes of which neither of them had ever seen.

* * *

It was night in the capital of Calatia, the moon breaking through the clouds to drape the nervously quiet city in gentle silver radiance. The city seemed almost peaceful from Empress Zelda's window, serenely asleep before the chaos the departure of the legions on the next day would bring.

But she knew hers was not the only window behind which paced a sleepless soul, worrying about what would come with the rising of the sun. There was a tenseness beneath the deceptive serenity, an anxious dread of what new terrors their enemy would unleash upon them next.

Zelda folded her arms, idly tapping the tips of her fingers against the cool metal of her bracers. She cast her perceptions like a net over the capital, listening to the varied emotions of those who lived and worked in the center of the world's mightiest empire.

Out there the multitudes went about their lives, concerns and worries swirling about in a veritable tempest of emotion. As she allowed her perceptions to drift, Zelda listened.

A merchant sat counting his money above his shop, dreading the evidence that his partner was cheating him. In the next room, his wife lay awake in their bed, wondering how they would provide for the children they already had in addition to the new life that was even now growing inside her.

Down the street, a young artist paced his studio, glaring in frustration at the painting that sat in his easel. He was in love with his model, and feared that it showed in the portrait even though she was promised to another. He was loath to start over, but he knew he could never let the woman see it. In the back of his mind, the artist considered running off to join the legions that sailed for Hyrule the next day, though he had never before wielded a weapon in his life.

Nearby, a burglar silently pried open a window, intent on the riches he suspected to be inside. Instead, what he found was the shopkeeper, armed with a crossbow. Zelda sensed his panic as he scrambled backwards, and the hot lance of pain as the bolt speared through his shoulder. In pain, the burglar fled, desperately wondering what he could do; the shopkeeper had seen his face, and would even now be running for the nearest city watchman.

In the barracks near the eastern gate, a soldier sat sharpening his sword by torchlight. Twenty-five years ago, his father had fought in the massive battle fought through the capital during the Dark Lord Raneses' siege; he had heard stories all his life of what his father had seen during that long night, the tremendous powers that had dueled one another as the two armies' infantry charged again and again into each others' ranks before the battle moved into the city. Tomorrow, he would sail for Hyrule, and in a fortnight he would be marching through a land of legend, seeking to avenge the assassination of the Imperial Family.

And lastly, Zelda felt the presence creeping through the halls and secret passages of the Imperial Palace, intent on her bedchamber.

Grimly, the Empress reached out with her powers and drew the curtains, shrouding the room in darkness. She arranged the pillows beneath the covers in the bed, then crossed to one of the chairs by the far wall and sat down. She steepled her fingers, eyes locked on the far door which even now the assassin approached.

Behind the assassin, Zelda sensed Impa's watchful presence, her eyes tracking the intruder as she silently drew one of her throwing knives. Zelda silently asked her bodyguard to let the intruder pass, told her that she was fully aware of the situation and prepared.

Impa mentally acquiesced, adding that she was going to follow the intruder inside anyway.

With almost perfect silence, the door opened, and a shadowy figure slipped inside, headed for the enormous bed on the rear wall. The assassin walked right past Zelda, oblivious to her presence in the darkness.

At the precisely calculated moment, Zelda exerted her will, and every curtain in the room drew back at once, every lamp flaming into blinding radiance in perfect synchronization.

The assassin leaped backwards, startled, but Zelda lifted a hand and the dark-clothed figure froze in mid-leap, suspended inches above the floor.

Fearful brown eyes stared at her in panic from within the dark mask the assassin wore, flicking to the tall, menacing shape of Impa as the bodyguard entered the room, sword drawn and pointed threateningly at the intruder.

"Please don't hurt me," a young-sounding female voice begged from the black mask. "They made me do it! They have my daughter!"

Zelda's face was an expressionless mask as she rose from the chair and crossed to where the assassin hung suspended in mid-air. She reached up and snatched off the mask, revealing a young human woman with short blonde hair, her eyes filled with fear.

Impa reached over and grabbed a handful of her hair, scowling fiercely. "Who sent you?" she demanded.

The young woman whimpered as Impa tightened her grip, then blurted out an answer. "Men with swords! They came into my house last night and took my daughter, saying that if I ever wanted to see her again, I would follow the instructions they left for me."

"She's telling the truth," Zelda murmured to her protector. "What's your name?" she asked the assassin.

"Syra," the young woman replied hastily. "I'm an acrobat with the royal opera. My husband was in the army; he was killed in the Emperor's campaign against Fortryn last year." She looked up at the Empress pleadingly. "I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I didn't know what else to do! My daughter is all I have!"

Impa contemptuously released her grip on Syra's hair. "So you decided to kill your Empress? I should kill you now!"

"No, please!" Syra exclaimed. "I… I came here to ask for the Empress' aid." She looked over at Zelda. "I have heard that you are a mighty sorceress; you might be able to find the men that took my daughter!"

But Zelda was only half listening; something disturbed her perceptions, something that felt deeply _wrong_ somehow. As she focused more on what she sensed, Zelda's eyes widened, and she dropped Syra to the carpeted floor, rushing for the sword that hung from a rack beside her bed.

"She's only a distraction!" Zelda said hurriedly as she drew the sword and held it in her hands, closing her eyes in concentration. "Something is coming to the city, something _big_."

Impa drew a strip of sturdy black fabric from a pocket of her uniform and quickly tied Syra's hands behind her back. "What do you mean, my lady?" she asked concernedly.

Zelda stretched out her perceptions, trying to gain an accurate sense of the monster. Once she was confident she had, she summoned her power and concentrated on her sword, imbuing it with an enchantment to counter the monster's powers.

"The Divine Host has sent some sort of creature," Zelda replied quickly, double-checking her work as she moved for the bureau next to the mirrors in the corner of her chamber.

She tossed the sheathed weapon to Impa before opening the doors. "They've conjured a monster from shadow and flame," she said as she rifled through the clothes. "None in the city can stand against it; I will have to go myself."

Zelda looked over at Impa as she pulled on a pair of sturdy leather trousers beneath her nightgown. "It's here to lay waste to the troops," she explained, leaning back into the bureau for her boots. "Syra was sent to kill me or at least distract me while the monster attacked. They must have sent it to kill the troops and destroy the ships; it's headed for the wharf at the eastern gate."

She rapidly buckled her boots, then tucked her nightgown into her trousers before lacing them up, reaching for her belt next. "Tell the Sheikah who know magic to meet me at the wharf," she said as she buckled her sword-belt. She glanced at Syra, who watched them both with a terrified expression. "And… find her daughter," Zelda added. "Bring her back here; I'll deal with the mother when this is done."

Zelda snatched a jacket out of the bureau, one which was reinforced in the chest, back and shoulders with steel plates sewn into the lining. She had no time to imbue it with any form of magical protection; it would have to do for now.

"Go now!" she said to Impa, then ran for the nearest window.

With a touch of telekinesis, the window flew open, and Zelda leaped through it, engaging in self-levitation to propel herself from the tower with tremendous speed for the wharf, where even from here she could see the flickering orange glow of the unearthly monster.

She flew rapidly over the rooftops of the city, concentrating on the speeding shape of the creature, and prepared her first attack as she slowly overtook the smoke-shrouded flickering figure.

But to Zelda's surprise, a triple-forked bolt of lightning appeared to erupt out of the roof of a warehouse near the docks and slam into the monster. She heard its reverberating, distorted screech from high above the city, over the wind rushing past her ears, followed again by another deafening blast of thunder and eruption of coruscating purple-white energy.

Astonishingly, this lightning came from the same place as the first bolt, securing Zelda's suspicion that it was not of natural origin. She changed her angle of flight, heading instead for the roof of the warehouse.

As she drew closer, Zelda could make out a man in gold-and-red armor, a long staff in his hands, whirling the staff through a complicated pattern. Zelda stopped and averted her eyes just in time as another long lance of crackling energy flew through the night at the flickering monster.

She touched down several yards from the armored man, jogging up to him with one hand on the sword at her side.

When he turned to look at her, Zelda stopped short, surprised. "Lord Fenris?" she exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"Later," Link said quickly, turning back to hurl another bolt at the monster. "Get over here, you ugly brute!" he shouted, sweeping the Staff of Lightning out twice more.

He turned back to Zelda. "You've done something to that sword?" he asked, gesturing to the weapon at her side. When she nodded, he drew his own blade and extended it to her. "Do the same to this one," he instructed. "We need to start doing some damage before this thing gets to the docks. If I can make it see me as a threat, I might be able to kill it before it destroys any of the legions' ships."

The Empress took the former Hero's blade and quickly went to work. Though she had many questions, she knew the man before her raised the odds of her victory over this thing many times over; he had engaged monsters like this numerous times before.

Just as Zelda finished enchanting Lord Fenris' sword, another figure swooped through the air toward them and touched down on the warehouse roof a few steps away. In the bright flash of another bolt of lightning, Zelda recognized the Emissary, Val.

"It's as I thought," the Emissary said to Link. "It's a Fyrwen. Lightning isn't going to do much more than annoy it this far away; you'll need to hit it in the central eye to do any real damage."

Link nodded. "All right," he said. He gestured to the intricately worked shoulder-pads the Emissary wore. "I'll need those."

Quickly, Val removed the shoulder-pads and handed them to the former Hero, who buckled them over his armor's pauldrons with practiced speed. Zelda finally recognized the Icarus Wings, and realized Lord Fenris' strategy.

"I apologize for not reporting back sooner, Your Highness," Val said to Zelda. "I will explain the delay when we are done here."

"I look forward to hearing it," Zelda replied. "What is this thing?"

"A Fyrwen," Val answered. "It's a fire-element creature. They live deep underground, usually in magma pockets. They never come up to the surface; the Divine Host must have summoned this one."

"Yes," Zelda said. "I sensed it a short time ago. It's vulnerable to cold and water; I've enchanted my sword and Lord Fenris' with the power to project extreme cold with each strike."

Despite the situation, Val stopped to look at her curiously. "How powerful of an effect?" she asked.

"As powerful as I could," Zelda replied. "Why?"

"And you were able to do this in only minutes?" the Emissary said, astonished.

"Zelda, let's go!" Link called, gesturing out at the Fyrwen with his sword.

"Good luck," Val said, taking a step back.

"You're not coming?" Zelda said curiously.

Val frowned briefly. "I've lost my powers temporarily," she said. "I'll explain later."

"Zelda!" Link said again, impatient now.

The Empress ran over to the former Hero, and together they launched into the air, soaring over the warehouse district to the rampaging Fyrwen.

"Stay close to me," Lord Fenris shouted to Zelda. He patted one of the Icarus Wings with a gauntleted hand. "These things like to cut out on me sometimes, and I might need you to catch me if that happens. In the meantime, hit that thing with every ice-spell you know, and try to slow it down while I go for the eyes!"

Zelda nodded, looking down at the monster as they drew closer. The Fyrwen had a long snake-like tail, glowing and smoldering with scaly patterns, which extended up into a many-armed torso and an angular reptilian head, from which glared three brightly glowing eyes. It shone orange with heat, as if wrought from lava, but through her magical perceptions Zelda could sense that it was in fact a living creature, not a sorcerous animation of molten stone as she had first suspected.

"Get ready," Link called over to her, gripping his newly enchanted sword tightly.

Zelda took a deep breath, tightening her grip on her own weapon. Together, they rushed at the monster.

* * *

Erike winced, bringing her hand up to shield her eyes as the god Jyrad unleashed a blindingly bright stream of power upon his rebellious brother Kharan. The dark god screamed in pain and anger, his powerful deep voice bouncing off the rocky slopes of the volcano behind them and echoing weirdly in Erike's ears.

The goddess Venisa, her golden hair and flowing garments streaming behind her, ran in a wide circle around the combatants, her arms held out to focus her power as she summoned torrential rain from the clouds above to smother the flames from the other gods' combat.

Beside her, Daskin stood with sword in hand but held at his side, his eyes wide and his jaw slack with astonishment as he watched the duel. He hissed in sudden pain, bringing a hand up to hold the back of his head.

"What is it?" Erike asked concernedly, tearing her eyes away from the battle to regard her companion.

"There's so much powerful magic flying around out there that it's actually painful to sense it," Daskin replied. "This is magic in its purest form, being wielded by beings of pure power. I have to put most of my energy into my mental shields right now just to keep from being knocked unconscious by this. This is so far beyond the capabilities of mortals that it would fry my whole body just to try something like what they're doing."

"And we are trapped in the middle of it," Erike said grimly, her fingers tightening around the hilt of the Master Sword again. She hated feeling so helpless, but as Daskin had said, this was far beyond either of them.

As if on cue, in response to her words, Jyrad suddenly leaped at Kharan, and the two of them disappeared in a nova-bright flash of light. Erike covered her eyes, but still the brilliant radiance stabbed into her, and she screamed; it felt like her eyes were burning. Dimly, through her own pain, she heard Daskin cry out beside her.

When the light faded, Erike blinked rapidly, trying to bring her sight back into focus, but the world remained dim around her, rapidly fading into blackness. She felt panic begin to rise inside her; had she been blinded?

A blurry, glowing shape moved in front of her, and part of it reached out for her. Erike felt superhumanly large fingers gently touch her temples, and the world slowly slid back into sharp clarity. Before her stood the goddess Venisa, looking down at her benevolently.

"They have moved their combat into the immortal realms," Farore's daughter explained. "Jyrad has forced Kharan to face him there, where they can truly pit their full power against one another. I must go to help Jyrad." She backed away, pausing for a moment to regard Erike with an almost maternal smile. "You have our blessing, Hero," she said. "The faithful gods will aid you where we can, but we are engaged in battling Setarekh and his followers; the Dark God has learned a way to kill immortals, and all our effort goes to finding a way to counteract his new power."

Venisa knelt, so that her inhumanly beautiful features were level with Erike's. "Do not grieve for your sister," she said gently, looking into the young warrior's eyes. "She is now more important than you can know."

With that, she stepped back and vanished in a swirl of golden light.

"Wait!" Daskin called desperately, stepping forward as Venisa faded away. "What do you mean? Is Lynaka alive?"

But she was gone, and he received no answer.

"Well, _now_ what are we supposed to do?" Daskin angrily demanded of the vacant space the goddess had left behind.

Erike turned at the sound of running footsteps approaching through the jungle, splashing through the puddles left behind by the suddenly vanished rain. She saw a group of people dressed in roughly made clothes running toward them, fear and awe in their eyes.

"Who are you?" Daskin called to them. Erike noticed his hand tense around the Twilight Blade, but he did not raise the weapon, not yet.

"Please!" one of the men shouted back, looking at Erike. "You are the Hero of the Hylians?"

"I am," Erike confirmed cautiously. "Who are you?"

"My name is Madgsen," he replied, breathless as he slowed to a stop a few paces away.

Now that she could see him more clearly, Erike saw that Madgsen was tall and powerfully built, with long dark hair and a thick, full beard. Intense blue eyes regarded her beneath his tangled fringe of hair, and his thick, powerful fingers moved spasmodically at his sides, as if he didn't know what to do with his hands. He reminded her somewhat of her father; despite his uncommon size and enormous muscles, intelligence gleamed in his eyes.

His companions, two women and another man in similarly rough clothing and with roughly maintained hair, looked at the two of them pleadingly. As Madgsen caught his breath, Erike ran an eye over them, seeing that all of them were lean and muscular, with no trace of fat to be seen; these were people accustomed to work, and hard work at that. Erike guessed that they were former slaves, judging by their appearance and the fact that they had recognized her this far from Hyrule.

"I am named for the legendary wizard who helped the first Hero who tried to free us," Madgsen continued. "He was said to be very long-lived; we have seen him sometimes since then. Is he still alive?"

"Yes," Erike replied. "Majacen still lives."

"We'd heard that the Hero was now a woman with dark skin," one of the women said, a green-eyed blonde nearly as tall as Madgsen. Her hair was short, as if her head had been shaved several months ago and she had been letting it grow out since then.

"We've come to ask for your help," said one of the others, a muscular dark-skinned man with coal-black hair and rich brown eyes. "The slavers are on the march again. Lord Viserys' army fights against invaders from the south and can't help us, and the Hylians under Lord Fenris went back to their country to defend against a similar attack, we have heard."

Another woman, this one with red hair and blue eyes, moved forward to clasp Erike's shoulder. "Please, you've got to help us!"

"All right, slow down," Daskin said, sheathing his sword. "What's going on?"

The former slaves all spoke at once, their voices overlapping in a desperate mix of panic and fear, but Madgsen, who seemed to be the leader, held up a hand and boomed a command for silence.

"The slavers have a new army," the big man said to Daskin. "They're marching through the territory Lord Viserys gave to us, burning every village they find and taking the people captive."

"I will _never_ be a slave again," the tall blonde woman said vehemently. "And neither will my children! You must help us, Hero!"

The other freedmen murmured in angry agreement, their eyes flashing with determination.

Erike glanced over at Daskin, and he gave her a silent nod. She turned back to the freedmen. "Yes, we will help you," she said.

"Hyrule is still devoted to ending slavery," Daskin said, stepping to her side. "We've got our own problems to deal with at the moment, but the two of us are here now, and we can help you, so we will. Please, tell us everything you can about the slavers and their new army."

"The slavers are the commanders," the dark-skinned man said, "but the soldiers are brutes in black-and-purple uniforms, their faces painted in savage patterns in red and black."

"I thought so," Daskin said grimly, frowning. "The Divine Host is helping the slavers. They get more bodies to ensorcel for their army as payment, I assume."

The red-haired woman nodded. "I have seen men in dark robes performing terrible rituals upon the captives." Her eyes misted with frustrated tears. "I fear any day now they may select my daughter for one of their demonic rituals, if they haven't already."

Madgsen placed a large hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "Don't worry, Jyselle," he said. "We have hope now."

"We're going to have to be smart about this," Daskin said warningly. "The two of us may be powerful, but we're still only two against an entire army."

"You are _not_ only two," the tall blonde said determinedly. "There are more of us deep in the jungle. We've fought for our freedom before; we're not afraid to do it again."

"There are nearly a hundred in our group," said the muscular dark-skinned man. "And we know of at least one other, maybe two. We came when we heard your battle against the sorcerous monster, and saw the fires from its attacks."

"No, Teraq," the tall blonde woman said, turning to look at the dark-skinned man. "It was the gods themselves that fought here. I saw the goddess speaking to the Hero before she left."

"Are you sure, Cyrinna?" Teraq replied doubtfully. "I didn't see any gods; only fire and smoke and that bright light, and I only heard battle."

"I know the gods of my ancestors' country," Cyrinna replied hotly. "I am named for one, after all. Though, I don't think Cyrinna was the one I saw; she's supposed to have white hair, and this one was blonde."

"No, she said her name was Venisa," Daskin said. He looked at Cyrinna curiously. "You mentioned something about your ancestors; are you from Hyrule?"

"Yes," Cyrinna replied, turning to look at him. "A thousand years ago, my homeland was part of Hyrule, but it was conquered by the slavers during a civil war. The stories say Hyrule was fighting against some of its mages who had turned to dark magic, and couldn't do anything when the slavers took one of the outlying provinces."

"It sounds like you're talking about the Dark Interloper war," Daskin said thoughtfully. "On our way to the slaver camp, I'd like for you to tell me your people's legends. Some of my ancestors were involved in that war, as well."

"It's several days' walk from here," said Teraq. "Can't you use your magic to take us there, wizard?"

"Doesn't work that way," Daskin replied. "My teleportation skills rely on portals, and you have to go the long way first before you can establish one and transport there in the future." He gestured over his shoulder with a thumb at the Heavenly Vault behind them. "The portal I made here on our last trip is the only one for hundreds of miles. We're not getting out of walking, unfortunately."

"Then we'd better go to our camp," said Madgsen. "It's only a few minutes away; we can stay there tonight and set off in the morning."

Daskin gestured off into the jungle. "Lead the way," he said.

As the small group set off into the jungle, Daskin hung back to speak quietly with Erike. "I appreciate you offering to help these people. I know you're doing this because you feel you have to, as the Hero, but-"

"But if the Divine Host is involved in the slavers' campaign, there is a good chance we may encounter Ganondorf," Erike finished for him. "I sensed when we were here the first time that there is more going on in the Far South than we know. I believe the main base of operations for the Divine Host is down here somewhere, so it is likely Ganondorf is in the southern kingdoms."

Daskin nodded approvingly. "You're a sharp one," he said, patting her shoulder. "Stay here with them," he went on, gesturing at the freedmen. "I'm going to go scout ahead and make sure there aren't any more surprises between us and their camp."

At her confirming nod, he ran a few steps and took off into the air, quickly disappearing into the foliage. Erike saw the freedmen glance up curiously as he flew over their heads, but they were apparently used to the ways of magic-users, and returned their attention to making their way through the jungle.

Quiet as ghosts, the five of them disappeared into the verdant maze ahead, leaving the volcano to stand silent, watchful guard over the treasures in its depths once again.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to Seldavia for beta reading. Chapter 20 is in the works, and should be up early next week. Till next time!


	20. Cry Havoc

Twenty

(Cry Havoc)

A frigid torrent of icy rain streamed down the alleyway in Calatia's capital with all the force of a raging hurricane, drenching the colossal monster that threatened Empress Zelda's city.

The Fyrwen roared in pained rage, lashing out with one of its many arms at the armored figure that swooped around its head. Lord Fenris dodged the fire-element creature's attack and again plunged his enchanted blade into its thick skin. Waves of ice radiated out from the wound, drastically dimming the Fyrwen's fiery orange glow.

Using her own powers of self-levitation, the young empress shot towards the monster, her own sword gripped tightly in one hand. She dodged the wildly flailing arms, twisting her body through the air until she neared the creature's head. Zelda turned around and allowed herself to drop momentarily, her boots resting on the Fyrwen's still-hot skin.

She plunged her sword into its left-most eye, adding her own powers to the ice-enchantment, until ice covered the entire left half of the creature's head.

It bellowed again, swiping blindly at her with all of its multiple arms, but Zelda rocketed straight up, far out of its reach. Link took advantage of the creature's distraction to swoop in himself and stab his sword all the way up to the hilt in the Fyrwen's central eye, its weak point.

Lord Fenris wrenched his blade free with a triumphant yell, using his Icarus Wings to fly back out of reach of the creature's arms, but as Zelda watched, horrified, his flight suddenly stopped, and Link dropped like a stone from the sky, having time only for a surprised shout before one of the Fyrwen's clawed hands smashed him from the air.

He careened into a window high up on one of the warehouses, smashing through it and disappearing into its darkened space. Zelda rushed for him, but pulled herself back just in time to avoid a swarm of arrows that rose whistling through the air from the direction of the docks.

Hovering in mid-air, Zelda turned to see a full division of archers scrambling into position, rushing out of the barracks with their longbows in hand. A grizzled commander, still buckling on his armor, shouted a command, and several dozen of the archers drew arrows and nocked them, taking aim at the Fyrwen even as they rain to their positions.

Zelda pulled herself further out of the way as the commander shouted the command to fire and another swarm of arrows streamed at the Fyrwen, nearly all of them sinking into its scaly hide.

It bellowed in pain and unleashed a torrent of flame from its mouth, but the legionnaires scattered among the archers rose and locked their shields together, forming an impenetrable wall of metal around the crowd of soldiers.

The fire washed over the soldiers, and Zelda heard a few scattered screams as some men were burned, but on the whole, most of the men rose unharmed when the blast faded away and the legionnaires lowered their shields.

A stream of frigid water, drawn from the air by a nearby Sheikah agent on one of the rooftops, washed over the Fyrwen, drawing another great cloud of steam from its fiery hot scales. Another of the black-clad warriors added another stream from one of the other rooftops, and as soon as it was done, the archers loosed another cloud of arrows.

Zelda left the fight to them for a moment while she hurried to check on Lord Fenris. She flew through the window he had broken and formed a globe of light above her fingers, searching the darkness for the former Hero.

She spotted him when a piece of his armor glinted in the light, and she swooped down to the warehouse's floor, then ran over to the great heap of shattered pottery that rested in the ruins of a large smashed crate, where she could see what appeared to be one of his boots among the wreckage.

Even as Zelda drew closer to the destroyed crate, she heard a groan, reassuring her that the famed warrior was still alive. Mindful that she wore no gloves, Zelda swept away a great heap of pottery with one of her boots, one hand reaching out for where Lord Fenris' gauntlet protruded from the pile of splintered wood and shattered clay.

His fingers closed around her wrist as she gripped his arm, and Zelda pulled, leaning backwards as Link exerted his own muscles to free himself.

He coughed once, then turned to look at her with a wry grin. "Good thing I was wearing this," he said, thumping his breastplate with one hand, "otherwise I'd be full of splinters right now." Link groaned as he stretched his shoulder, stepping free of the wreckage. "That didn't feel too good. Maybe I should listen to my wife and remember I'm not as young as I used to be."

Zelda allowed herself a short chuckle despite the situation.

Link chuckled himself as he ran a hand though his hair and a shower of dust and tiny pot shards fell out, tinkling on his armored shoulders before falling to the ground. He turned back and gave the heap of wreckage a mighty kick, then snatched his sword out of the air when it rose along with fragments of pottery and the splintered remains of the crate, twirling it twice before sliding it into the scabbard at his waist.

"You all right?" he said as he turned to her. At Zelda's questioning look, he gestured up at her forehead. "You're bleeding," Link clarified.

Zelda reached up, and, to her surprise, felt a warm wetness at her temple, extending back into her hair. Her probing fingers traced it back to its source, a small gash near the top of her head.

"I'm fine," she said, wiping her fingers on her jacket. "I'm not sure how I got that, actually."

"Judging by the glass in your hair, you probably did it when you came flying in here," Link said, his sharp blue eyes roving around the warehouse as he spoke. He gestured up at the broken window with a thumb. "Now, where's the door to this place?" he said to himself.

Zelda looked out over the rows of crates, searching for it herself.

Link rapped one of the intricately scrolled shoulder-pads buckled on over his armor. "These stupid things cut out on me, just like I knew they would. They seem to like to do it right at the most inopportune moment, too. Did I ever tell you about the time they dropped me right in the middle of Raneses' army before we took back Castle Town?"

Zelda smiled, remembering the stories of the former Hero's exploits that he and others had told her ever since she was a little girl. "Lady Midna had to rescue you from that, didn't she?"

The former Hero's eyes twinkled in the dim light as he grinned. "She had the nerve to complain about how heavy I was, after all that time I spent running around as a wolf with her on my back!"

Outside, they heard a roaring groan, then a heavy thud as the Fyrwen finally succumbed to the assault and dropped dead to the cobblestones. As they made their way to the exit, they could hear the soldiers cheering outside.

When Zelda and Link emerged from the warehouse into the street, another hearty cheer went up from the legionnaires.

"The Empress herself uses her magic to help us!" one of the soldiers shouted triumphantly. He raised his mailed arms above his head. "Hail Empress Zelda!" he bellowed.

The rest of the soldiers joined him in his cheer, clashing their weapons against their shields and rattling their armor. Another soldier gestured to the armored figure at her side and shouted, "Lord Fenris returns to fight for us again!" and another round of cheering and general noise-making ensued.

When the men finally quieted, Zelda spoke. "You have fought well!" she began. She turned, gesturing with her sword at the dead monster behind her. "Our enemy is aware of our intentions to aid Hyrule, and seeks to hinder us, but we have shown them our resolve. Even their conjured monsters cannot stand against the fury of our steel!"

Again, the soldiers cheered, jeering insults against the monster and those who had sent it.

"Now," Zelda said when the noise died down again, "go and get some rest, if you can. Tomorrow, you sail for Hyrule!"

"What shall we do with this… thing, Your Majesty?" the commander of the troops asked, stepping to the front of the crowd.

Zelda turned to glance at the arrow-riddled corpse of the deep-world fire elemental. "Mount its head on the prow of the flagship," she said, turning back to them. "Do what you like with the rest of it."

"I think I want some dragon-skin boots!" one of the men shouted from the back, and the others around him laughed.

Zelda herself smiled. "You've earned them," she called back. She turned with a farewell wave, making her way down the street with Lord Fenris at her side, the silent dark forms of the Sheikah moving along the rooftops above them.

"Though I appreciate your assistance," the young Empress said to the former Hero once they were a ways down the street, "I am curious as to how you knew to come here, with the Communication Stones blocked."

"Hyrule Castle was attacked by the Divine Host earlier tonight," Link replied as they walked. "The Hero and her companions fought off the assault, as they have been doing for the last several days. I was on patrol in the lower levels of the castle, and I fought alongside the palace guards against a group of soldiers that were trying to invade the central keep."

"And that is when Val appeared, I assume?" Zelda said, stepping around a bit of rubble knocked loose during the Fyrwen's rampage.

"Yes," Link replied. "When my group had dispatched the last of the soldiers, Val and another Sheikah agent came to talk to me. She explained that you had sent her, but on her way here, she was intercepted by a powerful enemy sorcerer, and that he placed a curse upon her that has sealed away most of her powers. She escaped, but it took her the better part of a week to finish the journey to Hyrule, where she met the agent. He transported them both to Castle Town, where they encountered the battle.

"They fought their way through the assault to my position, then explained to me the situation here in Calatia, how you had become the Empress and needed the aid of the Hero and my son to help defend your capital while you dispatched the legions to our aid. Daskin and Lynaka are both still in Hyrule, defending against the attack, but when the agent reported that Calatia was also under attack tonight, I decided to come myself." Link held up his left hand, on which Zelda knew there were Twili markings beneath his gauntlet. "I used the powers my wife gave me to transport us all here, and shortly afterward, we met up with you."

He paused, looking off at one of the city walls. "Speaking of which," Lord Fenris said thoughtfully, "someone's just used the portal here."

Zelda, too, had sensed the portal's activation, and she turned to look as a floating figure rocketed down from the wall directly toward them, nimbly swooping around the buildings in the way.

With a flutter of her long dark outer robe, Midna touched down in the street a few paces away from them. Immediately, Zelda knew something was wrong, from the Queen of Twilight's somber expression as she approached.

"What is it?" Link said concernedly.

"Lynaka is dead," Midna replied gravely. "Ganondorf killed her."

Through Zelda's own shock, she heard Lord Fenris snarl a vicious curse, and the resounding clang as he punched the wall next to him. "I _knew_ it!" he shouted. "I _knew_ he would betray us!"

"Ganondorf is alive?" Zelda inquired, surprised.

"It turns out he made arrangements with the Dark God to get himself reborn in a new body the last time we fought him," Midna answered. "He's the Bearer of Power; somehow he managed to get into the Sacred Realm again and get his hands on the Triforce. The same as the last time he did it, it split when he touched it, and that's how this all started."

"And he was…working with you?" Zelda said, confused.

"He _claimed_ to be," Link said bitterly. "He said now that Hyrule has made peace with the Gerudo, he had no reason to fight us, and instead he was going to fight alongside us against the forces of the Dark God." The former Hero hissed an angry breath between clenched teeth. "And fools that we are, we believed him. I should have killed Ganondorf the instant I saw him."

"Well, Daskin and Erike went chasing off after him," Midna said. "Now they're off in the Far South somewhere, but we can't go after them, because the Divine Host's sorcerers are up to something down there and I can't access the portal we left at the Heavenly Vault anymore." She glanced over at Zelda. "Erike is the Hero now, by the way; the Triforce of Courage went to her after her sister died, and she has the Master Sword, too."

"So now Hyrule is without the Bearers of Courage _and_ Wisdom," Zelda said despairingly. "It's wide open to attack until my legions arrive."

"Majacen is there," Midna reminded her. "He's doing what he can to put some sort of barrier around Castle Town to keep the Divine Host out, along with the Sheikah mages who've arrived. Your mother went ahead and ordered everyone else to evacuate to the Sacred Woods, so at least they'll be safe under the Deku Tree's protection while we deal with this."

"Leaving Hyrule empty once again while an enemy army occupies it," Link said grimly.

One corner of Midna's mouth quirked in a minute smile. "The Gorons are taking care of that," she said with a slight trace of amusement. "Darbus has organized patrols through the empty villages and along the roads, and they're smashing anything they find that doesn't belong. From what I heard when I checked on Ordon before I came here, they're having themselves a good time ambushing the Divine Host's scouting parties."

The smile vanished. "The Gerudo are having their own troubles," she said. "The Divine Host has been attacking them, as well, but they've been holding their own so far. I took out the sorcerers that were commanding the battle group attacking their capital when I brought Arnak there, but I know that wasn't the last attack they'll see for a while."

"Our major weakness in this war is our lack of magic-users," Zelda said. "My people all have the ability, but hardly anyone learns to use it anymore. We've grown so dependent on the protection of the Triforce that we've forgotten how to defend ourselves."

Link gestured out at the city around them. "And humans can't use magic at all, so there are no mages of any kind here in Calatia."

"Aside from myself and the Sheikah who have come here, no," Zelda confirmed. "And magic is the enemy's main weapon. We've managed to last this long, but when their sorcerers begin assaulting us in earnest, we are going to be in serious trouble."

"So, what are we going to do?" Link said. "We're stretched thin already; there aren't enough of us to defend both kingdoms, even with the legions and Hyrule's army for backup."

"Well," said Midna, "I thought I'd help Zelda with some magical defenses here, and then you and I would head out with the legions and protect the ships on the way to Hyrule." She looked over at Zelda. "I'd offer to transport your armies to Hyrule, but it'd take me nearly as long to teleport that many men over that kind of distance as it would to sail there; the portals aren't designed to handle that kind of traffic."

Zelda nodded. "I understand; that is why they're going by ship." She offered a small, grim smile. "At least the Divine Host does not have any leftover flying fortresses to use against us."

Even as she finished speaking, Zelda heard a peculiar whining sound mixed with a powerful deep rumble, and a tremendous shape blotted out the glow of the moon overhead. Above them, a huge, mile-wide shadow hovered over the city like a hand prepared to smash an insect, festooned with twisted spires and hundreds upon hundreds of cannon ports.

At the sound of an annoyed sigh, Zelda turned to see Midna looking at her with a wry expression.

"You just _had_ to say it, didn't you?"

* * *

When Aeron finally awoke, it seemed to him that there was not a single part of his body that did not hurt. He felt a cold, rough stone floor beneath his bare feet, and a great pressure on his wrists that he slowly realized was his own weight; he was hanging from a pair of iron manacles in a dim stone cell.

As he realized he was not alone, and that his captors were talking, Aeron ceased moving and concentrated on listening.

"-some sort of protection, though I cannot find any evidence of active enchantments or other magical defenses," one voice was saying, a cold, emotionless male voice he dimly remembered.

"I've looked him over myself, Zherron," the other voice replied irritably. "This man has no magic within him, self-generated or otherwise. Don't try to cover up your failures with some ludicrous theory!"

"My lord Ganondorf, we have been associates for a long time," Zherron replied calmly. "I do not inform you of my theories unless I believe them to have merit. When I tell you this man is somehow protected against any form of mind control, it is because there is no other logical explanation for why the mind control techniques have no effect on him."

Ganondorf scoffed disbelievingly, but went on. "What about the brother and sister? Is it the same with them?"

"It is," Zherron replied. "Mind control has no effect whatsoever on the sister, but the effect will sometimes last for up to an hour on the brother. Eventually, however, it always dissipates far earlier than it should. Ibnis reported that Zelda was able to duplicate the effect he used on her with Horys, but I must assume she put far more energy into her enchantment than Norak and Krisette are using in their attempts."

Aeron puzzled over this; disbelief instantly rose within him at the mere thought, but did this mean Princess Zelda had switched sides?

Another scoff, this one irritated. "An hour will gain us nothing. Even if I was able to put Horys under my control for a day, all I would be able to do would be to use him to eliminate Viserys." Ganondorf paced back and forth, his heavy boots clanging off the stone floor loudly. "No, if our aim is to topple Viserys' nation altogether, we will need to eliminate his generals, as well. That will require weeks, if not months."

"You once again bear the Triforce of Power, my lord," Zherron said. "Can you not simply do it yourself?"

Ganondorf made an annoyed sound, close to a growl. "I would, if these new warriors did not demand so much of my attention. I have never seen their like before; they feel like Triforce Bearers through my perceptions, but there are dozens of them. The Goddesses must be directly empowering mortals now; that is the only explanation for this."

Aeron filed this away; though he did not understand it now, this could doubtless prove useful in the future.

"The prisoner is awake, my lord," Zherron said suddenly.

Aeron opened his eyes to find Ganondorf less than a yard away, glaring down at him.

With a frustrated yell, Ganondorf backhanded Aeron across the face. The blow rocked him in his chains, and Aeron spat blood onto the floor when he was able to haul himself upright again. He glared defiantly back at Ganondorf, who hit him again.

"I am wasting my time with him!" Ganondorf exclaimed angrily. "Throw him back in his cell!"

Zherron, a grim little man in a stained white coat and small circular spectacles, peered curiously at Aeron as Ganondorf stormed out of the cell. "Do all members of your family possess your unusual iris coloration?" he inquired. "I have never before observed that color in a member of your species."

Aeron worked his mouth for a moment, and Zherron stepped closer, listening intently.

With what little strength he could muster, Aeron spat a mouthful of blood at Zherron, most of which landed on the shoulder of his coat.

The grim scientist eyed his shoulder with faint distaste before looking back up at Aeron. "Your lack of cooperation is regrettable," he said. "I shall have to procure the answer through alternate means of investigation."

He turned to look at the pair of Divine Host soldiers that entered the cell, looking to the scientist for direction. "Take him to my laboratory," Zherron said. "Put him on the table next to the woman."

"I…will never…tell you…_anything!_" Aeron gasped out, as the guards unlocked his manacles.

Zherron raised one eyebrow. "Your resolve is commendable, if misplaced. You are of more use to me as a research subject than a source of tactical information." He looked over at one of the guards. "You will have to carry him; he is about to lose consciousness."

Even as the grim little man spoke, the floor rushed up at Aeron and the world around him faded into blackness.

* * *

Light, soft and golden, stretched on into forever, accompanied by ethereal music.

The infinite, softly glowing white expanse slowly dissolved, revealing a magnificent feasting hall, richly appointed with masterfully crafted tapestries and decorative weapons. The dark wood-paneled walls stretched up into a soft golden radiance that hid the ceiling, gently illuminating the entire hall, which was filled with long tables and chairs.

Lynaka pressed a hand to her chest as feeling returned to her body, looking down to see dark blood staining her jerkin. She felt a dull ache beginning in her back and extending through her chest, though it was quickly fading. Even as she watched, the bloodstain vanished from her jerkin, accompanied by the pain.

She heard a sad sigh behind her. "We weren't expecting you for a long, long time," a male voice said.

Lynaka turned and gasped in surprise at what she saw. Behind her stood a man she knew was dead, and had been for a very long time. She had seen his image in a temple deep within the Far South, but where he had been transparent and insubstantial then, here he was solid and whole, looking very much alive.

"You had only begun your quest," Link Fenris I, the Hero of Lightning, said, his expression sad. "But still, you had already earned your place here."

"I'm… dead, aren't I?" Lynaka said with growing realization.

The Hero of Lightning nodded. "Your mortal body is, anyway," he confirmed. "Welcome to the Hall of Courage, Lynaka." A half-smirk passed across his face. "Such as it is now."

It was only then that Lynaka realized what was wrong; the two of them were the only ones in the hall. There were places set for several dozen, matched by an equal number of tapestries and arrays of weapons on the walls. But, the tables were empty, and the fireplaces were silent. It was more than a little disquieting, especially when the placement of the chairs and abandoned plates and goblets suggested the hall had been occupied only hours ago.

Link Fenris I gestured at a pair of chairs beneath a tapestry that looked unfinished. "Please, sit," he said. "I have a lot to tell you and not much time, so we'd better hurry."

As she looked at the tapestry, Lynaka was startled to recognize herself and the events of her life, woven into the cloth so finely they seemed to be moments captured in time. At the very end, she saw herself fighting in the castle courtyard, then Ganondorf stabbing her through the back.

"The others are off fighting," the Hero of Lightning said as he sat down, breaking into her thoughts. "And we need to join them soon; I'm only here because we knew you were coming and would need someone to explain all this to you." He gestured at the other chair again. "Sit."

Lynaka reluctantly tore her gaze away from the tapestry and sat, looking at the ancient Hero. "So, I really am dead."

"Your mortal body is," the Hero of Lightning said again. "You're immortal now, though that doesn't mean as much as it used to."

"What do you mean?"

Link Fenris I frowned. "The Dark God's come up with a way to kill immortals; he's already killed one of the gods and several of the former Bearers, and there's no coming back from it, either." He leaned forward and jabbed Lynaka hard in the chest with a stiff finger, where the wound had been. "You got lucky once," he said grimly. "But now you're all out of second chances. If you die again, you're dead for good. So even though you're damn near indestructible now, you still need to watch it when we're fighting the rebel gods."

Lynaka looked at him confusedly. "Maybe you'd better start over."

The Hero of Lightning sighed impatiently. "Okay, here's the short version: You, Lynaka, daughter of Arnak and Nabooru, are dead, killed by Ganondorf. Through your connection to the Triforce, you've been automatically resurrected to an immortal body here in the Celestial Realms, where all Triforce Bearers go upon death, violent or otherwise. For the last two thousand years, we've all been coming here when we buy the farm, but only just now have we found out why."

Lynaka waited for Daskin's ancestor to continue, trying madly to understand what was going on here.

"Anyway," he went on, "it turns out there was a huge war between the gods a few thousand years ago, and that war finally ended in a truce, where both sides swore not to interfere directly in mortal affairs again." He gestured vaguely off toward one of the huge doors leading from the hall. "The Dark God, Setarekh, claims the Three violated the truce, and now he's on the warpath. He and his rebel gods have been assaulting the Celestial Palace constantly since then with all manner of demonic creatures, and we've been fighting them off while the faithful gods fight off the dark gods."

As if to punctuate his statement, the wall suddenly shook with a tremendous impact on the other side. Lynaka could dimly hear the muffled whine of blasts of power being exchanged through the wall, along with deep, powerful impacts as something enormously strong fought nearby.

The Hero of Lightning stood and gestured at the hall around them. "And that brings us to why we're here. Even though the last war ended in truce, it turns out the Three have been planning for another one just in case. Nayru figured that Setarekh and his cronies would try again sooner or later, so she implemented the plan of bringing Triforce Bearers to the immortal realms once they died to build up an army made up of the greatest warriors and tactical thinkers the world has ever seen. We're here to stand against all the supernatural monsters the dark gods have been making in their own off-time." He smiled wryly. "You've heard of all the ugly monsters your predecessor fought?"

Lynaka nodded.

The Hero of Lightning pointed at his own tapestry. "These are the bigger, badder, immortal cousins of those things. They'd wipe the floor with a mortal Hero, which is why we're all trying to keep them from getting to the mortal realms. Hence, the need for me to keep explanations short and for you to get ready to fight."

Lynaka watched as the Hero of Lightning jumped up and grabbed the replica of the Master Sword that hung beneath her tapestry. She noticed that he held only the scabbard as he turned and tossed it to her.

When Lynaka drew the familiar sacred blade, she felt a rush of power similar to when she had drawn the weapon from its resting place in the Sacred Grove, and she marveled at the sensation as the powerful weapon attuned itself to her.

"We each get one of those, even if we didn't use the mortal version," the Hero of Lightning explained as he walked over to her. Lynaka noticed a similar blue hilt with wing-like cross guard extended from a scabbard on his own belt.

He grinned, patting his weapon. "They don't call it the Blade of Evil's Bane for nothing," he said. "Zelda could explain it better, but from what I understand, these are attuned to the evil powers Setarekh and his followers use, and are specifically designed to counter them. I don't know if one of these will kill a god, but they sure do slow 'em down. Raneses the Great got a good one on what's-his-name, Lornik, with one of these. Took his whole arm off, and it didn't grow back, either."

The hall rocked with another impact, and this time, Lynaka faintly heard distant, basso rumbling that could have either been supernaturally amplified speech or the roaring of a demon. Suddenly, the door slammed open and a massively tall Gerudo man tumbled inside, holding a red-hilted version of the Master Sword in one hand and an enormous shield in the other.

Deafeningly loud roaring followed him inside, an eerie, layered sound extending in range both into the upper and lower registers.

Lynaka recognized Raneses the Great as the huge man scrambled to his feet, hauling his shield around in front of himself just in time to block a wash of sickly green flame.

"I could use some help!" the ancient king bellowed over his shoulder.

The Hero of Lightning pulled out the Staff of Lightning-or rather, its divine equivalent, Lynaka corrected herself-and frowned in concentration, waiting until the long, metallic purple staff sparkled with electricity. When the blast of flame cut off and Raneses the Great ducked into the hall, the Hero of Lightning leaned into the open doorway and unleashed a storm of thunderbolts, pouring dozens of punishing purple-white whips of energy into the unseen monster.

Lynaka winced at the sheer volume of the resultant pained bellow, but it faded into a reverberating whimper before she heard an explosion and thick, acrid smoke wafted into the hall.

"Did that one have tentacles coming out of its _face?_" Link Fenris I said disgustedly, turning to glance at the ancient Gerudo king.

"Wings, too," Raneses the Great confirmed. "Like an unholy union of a dragon and a kraken."

The Hero of Lightning made a face. "Okay, I get the whole 'evil' concept, but do all these things have to be so damned nasty-looking? If I still needed food, some of these would make me lose my lunch."

"Perversion twists the mind," Raneses said, sheathing his weapon. "Consider it a testament to your faith that the Dark God and his monsters are still disgusting to you." He glanced over at Lynaka. "I will say that I looked forward to meeting you again, young daughter, though we did not expect your arrival so soon."

"You know who I am?" Lynaka said curiously.

Raneses the Great nodded once, smiling amusedly. "Indeed I do, as well as the fact that we have met twice before through your companion's time-traveling powers." The smile faded. "Tell me, is my son safe back in the mortal realms?"

"My father is watching over the mother," she answered.

"Good," said Raneses. "Even though he no longer bears his Triforce piece, Arnak is a strong and noble warrior. They could have no better protector."

"Was that the last of them?" Link Fenris I asked the ancient king.

Raneses the Great nodded. "This wave is gone," he answered. "Though I suspect we can expect the next group any time now."

Lynaka turned as another entered the hall, a tall, slender woman with long, snow-white hair wearing golden armor beneath a spotless flowing white cloak.

The Hero of Lightning and the ancient king bowed their heads respectfully. "Cyrinna," Raneses said in greeting.

From the woman's inhumanly perfect features and subtly glowing aspect, Lynaka realized this must be one of the gods. The goddess Cyrinna passed her clear amethyst eyes over them, one hand resting on the golden long-handled hammer hanging from a loop on her belt.

"The three of you will do," she said quickly. "Come with me."

Lynaka followed along behind the two warriors and the goddess as they went outside, and despite the situation and the signs of recently-ended battle, was unable to contain an impressed gasp at what she saw once outside the Hall of Courage.

Outside, the sky was a brilliant blue and bright as noon, though no sun was visible. Soft, fleecy clouds drifted around what appeared to be an immense floating island wrought in marble, silver, and gold. A huge fountain dominated the central plaza, fashioned in the shape of the Three Goddesses holding aloft an enormous golden Triforce. The image of Nayru seemed to be formed from water, flowing and liquid, yet somehow maintaining a sharp image. The image of Din was formed from earth and stone, with the hair made up of a waterfall-like flow of fire. Farore's image seemed to be made of some kind of wood, with moss covering the body in the shape of a gown, and a flowing drape of leafy vines serving as the hair, which stirred in the wind.

Beyond the fountain lay two more immense halls, set up in formation with the Hall of Courage at the points of a triangle behind the images of the respective Goddesses. One side of the huge central plaza extended up in a wide staircase to a tremendous palace, an ethereal, delicate construction seemingly wrought from crystal and platinum that soared up into graceful spires and towers, fashioned around an enormous circular hall at its center.

At a deep chuckle in front of her, Lynaka turned to see Raneses the Great looking back at her. "I remember the first time I saw the Celestial Realm," he said. "Even after nearly two thousand years, I never get tired of the view."

"Now is not the time," Cyrinna said impatiently. "You need to leave immediately."

"Leave to go where?" the Hero of Lightning asked, his expression puzzled.

"To rescue the Goddess of Balance," Cyrinna replied, looking back at the Celestial Palace as if waiting for something. "We have a rare opportunity to get her back from Setarekh, and I am taking it. There she is," she said to herself, raising one hand to signal a figure emerging from the palace of the gods.

Lynaka turned to see another goddess with long, wavy auburn hair, dressed in a flowing gown of a deep, velvety blue, like the sky over the desert at the beginning of night. Her expression was faintly sad, Lynaka could see as the goddess approached.

"Two of Nayru's daughters are twins," the Hero of Lightning explained. "They're the Goddesses of Balance, whose task is to ensure that all things remain in proportion. Back during the beginning of Setarekh's rebellion, Ulina and Ulida decided one of them should be on each side, so Ulida went with Setarekh, though the other gods say she didn't really want to."

"Ulida felt it her task to maintain the balance," the other goddess said softly as she approached. "When Setarekh turned to darkness and evil, conjuring new and unnatural powers for himself and his followers, only my twin refused to accept, saying she would not fight against us. As punishment for her disloyalty, the Dark God has been torturing her for an eternity, experimenting on her to find a way to destroy the divine. I sense that my twin still lives, though she is trapped in a plane of Setarekh's making, utterly alone and cut off from me and our mother." Lynaka was surprised to see a softly glowing tear slide from the corner of the goddess' eye and down her cheek. "There can be no worse torture for her," she said sadly.

"Where is he?" Cyrinna said irritably, looking around the complex. "Always late!"

Lynaka looked over at her questioningly, and when the white-haired goddess' gaze suddenly locked on an approaching figure and she waved him over impatiently, Lynaka turned to regard him.

The approaching god was clad in forester's garb, in rich earth tones of green and brown, with a bow and a quiver of arrows on his back, accompanied by a long knife at his belt. His long hair and beard were both thick and curly, on the edge of unkemptness, as if he was used to living in the wild and cared only little about his appearance. Only the subtle aura around him and the inhuman perfection of his features suggested his divinity.

"Hojar, called the Bold, a son of Farore," the Hero of Lightning said. "The ultimate explorer and tracker; if anyone can find where Setarekh hid Ulida, it's him."

The explorer-god looked over their group with bright, expressive green eyes as he stopped next to Cyrinna, one hand coming up to stroke his beard. "These the Bearers coming with me?" he asked.

"Yes," Cyrinna replied impatiently. "Now, go! You must go now, while Setarekh is distracted with the battle."

"All right then," Hojar said amiably. He turned to look at the three Bearers. "Hang on; this will feel… a little strange."

He held up one hand and moved his fingers in an odd manner. Lynaka gasped as the Celestial Realm dissolved around her, and she felt a great rush of speed.

Around her spread the magnificent ebon expanse of the heavens, speckled with the diamond pinpricks of stars. The star-speckled darkness around her seemed draped with ribbons of light, great glowing clouds in the darkness, in every color of the rainbow.

She felt as if she was flying at a fantastic rate of speed, but the infinite vastness of the universe moved but slowly, hinting at its true immensity. Lynaka could only watch, and marvel at the majesty of the universe.

* * *

Author's Note: Much thanks to Silverwolf05 for the recent brainstorming session, in which she helped me decide on the details of a plot twist coming up, hints of which you can see in this chapter. What we came up with was much better than my original idea, as I will point out when I spring it on you. ;)

And, as always, major thanks to all the readers and reviewers who've kept with this story, even after all the delays. As I've said in previous notes, I finally got this story all ironed out, so it should be pretty much smooth sailing to the end, despite my tendency to mix metaphors. ;) Till next time!


	21. Loose Ends

Twenty-One

(Loose Ends)

Belakar City, capital of the Calatian Empire, well remembered the time an Oocca flying fortress had last dominated its skies. Despite the twenty-five years that had passed since then, steadily erasing all trace of the damage the Dark Lord Raneses' army had wreaked upon their city, the Calatians reacted in almost blind panic when another of the mile-wide dreadnaughts settled above the city, its cannon ports primed and ready.

Empress Zelda stood in the midst of a city street near the docks with the former Hero, Lord Fenris, and his wife, the Queen of Twilight, Midna. Both heroes of the Oocca war wore suits of magic armor, vaguely similar in design but different in color. Midna had magically exchanged her usual clothes for her dark gray, black and red armor moments after the flying fortress appeared.

"What can we do?" the young Empress asked the two heroes of the last war in which these monstrosities had been fought.

"Well, since I'm not sensing any sort of mind-control coming from this one," Midna said thoughtfully, "and since the present Bearer of Power is not here and also a traitor, not a whole lot."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked her.

"The weaknesses are gone," Midna explained. "We used to be able to take one of these out by destroying the mind-control crystal in the armored compartment below the command room. They must be using a regular crew instead. Back when he was Bearer of Power, Arnak could destroy one of these by himself, but he can't help us and Ganondorf won't."

"I refuse to accept that we can do nothing against this… _thing_. There has to be something we can do to stop it!" Zelda said determinedly.

"Is there a sorcerer in command?" Lord Fenris asked his wife.

Midna stared up at the gigantic hovering shape, concentrating. "Yes," she said momentarily.

"Then we fly up to the command room, break in and kill him, and commandeer the fortress," Link said, as if it was something he did every day.

Midna fixed him with a reproving look. "I don't know about you, Mr. Hero, but I didn't spend a whole lot of time learning how to fly one of these things back during the last war. Seems to me you don't have much experience, either."

"I will go with you," said Zelda. "I am sure I will be able to figure it out."

"Right," Midna said dryly. "So we'll just pop on up there, kill the sorcerer, and save the day again. Sounds nice and simple."

"It should be, if we act quickly," Zelda said with a trace of impatience.

"Let me tell you something about Ganondorf, Your Highnessness," said Midna. "Things tend to go sideways when he's involved. I don't think _anything_ about this is as simple as it seems. Since he was more or less behind the last war, it seems to me he made sure this fortress got stashed away where we couldn't find it for a good reason. Now, I'm betting there's something special about this one, something none of the others had, because that's just the kind of annoyingly tricky thing Ganon likes to do."

Even as Midna spoke, a huge port on the underside of the fortress, nearly twenty feet across, irised open, and a tremendous, crystalline structure lowered out, alternating between blue and green in color as it flashed and also emitted a low, almost painfully deep near-ultrasonic rumble.

Link winced, reflexively hunching his neck into his shoulders as if the sound was causing him physical pain. Zelda herself had to close her eyes for a moment; the incredibly deep sound was already giving her a headache. With his sharper senses, especially hearing, Zelda could only imagine what it was like for the former Hero.

"I remember something!" Midna shouted to the two of them over the increasingly loud noise as the crystal structure pulsed faster and faster. "Back during the last war, Auru and Ashei said they encountered something like this when they were coming back down from Snowpeak. The fortress that attacked the Zoras there had a crystal like this that knocked them all out, and when they woke up, they were prisoners."

Link was about to ask a question, but as he opened his mouth, the pulsing quickened into a throbbing, and then into a continuous, bone-achingly deep tone.

Sensing powerful magic building up, Zelda hastily threw a shield around herself and the two others, pouring as much strength into its protective energies as she could.

The crystalline structure began to spin, and when it was moving so fast Zelda could see only a glowing blur, it flashed, so blindingly bright that she had to shield her eyes.

When the light faded, Zelda immediately sensed that something was wrong, but could not quite identify it. Crouched in the street next to her, Midna looked over at the Empress and said, "Everyone's gone."

Zelda nodded, confirming it with her own perceptions. "For several blocks in every direction," she said.

"Dead?" asked Link.

"No," Zelda replied, concentrating. She looked up at the tremendous floating shape above them. "In there."

"It must be some sort of forced short-range teleportation," Midna said. "Your shield protected us, but everyone else got sucked up into that thing."

"They don't even have to fire at us," Link said grimly. "They must have sent that thing here to take everyone in the capital; the sorcerer is probably here to ensorcel them all into those creature-soldiers the Divine Host uses."

"Simultaneously eradicating a threat to their power and replenishing their losses from all the sorcerers and soldiers we've destroyed," Midna finished. "Tricky."

"We have to get in there and stop them somehow," Zelda said, drawing upon her power in preparation for self-levitation.

"Did you bring any bombs?" Midna inquired of her husband.

"Three bags, as usual," Link replied. "Why?"

Midna grinned at this news. Looking at her, Empress Zelda was suddenly quite glad the Queen of Twilight was on her side, and the malice in that grin was not directed at her.

She gestured up at the flying fortress. "Let's go."

* * *

The most secret stronghold of the Divine Host, a castle deep in the jungles of the Far South, was known only to a select few; so few that it was rare for more than ten or twelve sentient beings to gather within its halls at any one time.

On this day, only five of the highest-ranking sorcerers in the Dark God's mortal organization gathered in the castle, all of them around a table in the Warlock's throne room, on which was a map of the continent depicting the placement of their forces.

Even these evil men, steeped in the blackest dark magic, with the blood of countless thousands on their hands, jumped in surprise when the great wooden doors at one end of the hall suddenly slammed open with tremendous force.

Into the hall strode the Dark Lord Ganondorf, the very picture of fury as he stormed toward the leadership of the Divine Host. His armor gleamed and his cloak billowed behind him from the speed of his stride, and it seemed that a seething, crackling aura surrounded him, just out of perception. His dark face was twisted in rage, and he held a sword in his hand, his obsidian-black creation the Sword of Darkness.

Without a word, the Dark Lord swiftly approached, and with a ferocious bellow, smashed the table into splinters with one mighty blow.

Only the Warlock himself, the greatest mortal servant of the Dark God Setarekh, did not take a reflexive step back, away from the enraged Dark Lord. The Warlock's glowing purple eyes flashed within the shadows of his hood, and he inquired, with deceptive calm, "What is the meaning of this, Ganondorf?"

"You know!" Ganondorf thundered, leveling his blade at the shrouded figure. "You know _damned_ well why I am here, you treacherous son of a viper!"

"Explain yourself," the Warlock said, still calm, but with an undercurrent of threat in his tone.

"I have just received word that the Divine Host is attacking my people," Ganondorf snarled, still holding his weapon pointed at the commander of the Dark God's army. "So now, I have come to slaughter you all for breaking your oath to me." He narrowed his eyes at the Warlock himself. "Starting… with _you_. I know who you really are, and you are fortunate I have not killed you already."

"Rash," the Warlock said, his deep voice echoing slightly in the cavernous throne hall. "You do not know all the details."

"I do not need to know the details!" Ganondorf shouted back. "You have broken our agreement; that is all I need to know, all the justification I need to rip out your entrails and throttle you with them!"

"Restrain yourself," the Warlock said, taking a few steps toward Ganondorf. His boots crunched over the splintered remains of the table, lighter fragments of which were swept aside by the weighted hem of his long, deep purple robe. "Despite the power you wield through the artifact of the Goddesses, do not doubt that my god has given me power to match yours… Dark Lord. An assault upon me, surrounded by my greatest servants, would be… unwise."

Ganondorf did not lower his sword, leaving its point level with the Warlock's neck, hidden by the folds and shadows of his hood. "Then explain," the Dark Lord growled through clenched teeth. "Explain, if you can, why I should not murder you all right now."

"One of our sorcerers, in his… enthusiasm, has disregarded the orders I gave him," the Warlock said patiently. "His lust for blood has overwhelmed his judgment, and in his impatience, he attacked the first available target. The matter is being… dealt with."

The reborn Dark Lord lowered his weapon, and approached until he and the Warlock stood but a foot apart, glaring down at the other man from his greater height. "Remember this," Ganondorf said dangerously. "My alliance to you hangs entirely on the lives and safety of my people. I fight at your side to ensure that they will be spared by your hordes. Make this _abundantly_ clear to the rest of your sorcerers, for if I hear of another attack on the Gerudo, I will see every one of you dead and your god thrown down. _DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?"_

The Warlock regarded him serenely from within his hood, completely unfazed by the Dark Lord's anger. "Perfectly," he replied mildly. "Now, if you do not mind, our lines require your attention. The Goddesses have loosed their immortal servants in the world, and you are one of the few among our ranks who can stand against them. Our numbers must be preserved for the next phase of our offensive."

Ganondorf poked a stiff finger into the Warlock's chest. "Do not think I will forget this," he snarled, then turned on his heel to storm back out of the throne room. He slammed the doors closed so forcefully that one of the steel hinges snapped, and a great crack appeared in the solid hardwood panel.

"My lord," said one of the other sorcerers, a silver-haired man with the glowing purple eyes typical of those of high rank, "is it wise to keep one whose loyalties are so… flexible… among our troops?"

"His usefulness to us will run its course soon enough," the Warlock replied, unperturbed. "And when it does, the gods will destroy him, as they should have done a century ago." The terrible visage within the concealing hood turned to regard the other sorcerer. "Fear not. Despite the Goddesses' efforts, we cannot lose. Our Master's victory is assured; all we must do is execute the plans he has laid out for us."

With a subtle motion of his fingers, the Warlock exercised a miniscule portion of his will and caused the shattered table to re-form, as if nothing had happened. He returned to the map, and his lieutenants slowly gathered back into their positions.

The silver-haired sorcerer was the last to step back into place. He cast a final look at the cracked door, then looked over at his master. "Of course, my lord," he said, his voice bolstered with a confidence he clearly did not feel.

* * *

"Aeron!" a vaguely familiar voice hissed in an urgent whisper. "Aeron, wake up!"

Once again, Aeron struggled his way back into consciousness, wincing at the pain in his head. He opened his eyes, seeing first a dark, damp stone ceiling, within a dimly lit room. The room smelled of mold, sweat, and long-dried blood; Aeron nearly gagged on the musty stench.

"Aeron!" the voice whispered again; he finally recognized it as belonging to his sister Erys.

He looked around for her and saw her stretched out on a low stone table, shackled by wrists and ankles to iron loops bolted to the table. What was left of her uniform was ragged and dirty, and her face was streaked with grime, but her violet eyes were bright and alert.

Aeron attempted to move and discovered that he was similarly secured. "Erys?" he whispered back.

"What have they been doing to you?" she asked, periodically glancing over at the chamber's crude wooden door.

"I'm not sure," Aeron replied. "It has something to do with mind-control. I've overheard enough to find out that the three of us are somehow either immune or highly resistant to its effects."

Erys gave him a questioning look. "Why?"

Aeron shrugged. "I have no idea. That scientist fellow, Zherron, said something about it. He also asked me about our eyes; apparently, he's never seen any other humans with violet eyes before."

"Do you think it's connected?" Erys asked.

"I don't see how, but it's possible," Aeron said. "I always figured it was just a family trait. Father says his father and grandfather both had violet eyes; his sister was the only member of his family he knew of that didn't."

"And all the men in the family go gray and then white early," Erys said thoughtfully.

"You think something in our blood makes us resistant to magic?" Aeron inquired.

"I think so," Erys affirmed. "That Zherron person has been doing some sort of tests on me for the last few days along with a man and woman who must be sorcerers. Whatever they're trying to do doesn't work on me, and Zherron said something about 'genetics', whatever that means."

Aeron was about to reply, but stopped suddenly, craning his neck to try to listen to a sound he heard.

"What is it?" Erys asked.

"Do you hear that?"

She frowned thoughtfully. "It sounds like… fighting."

The faint, muffled traces of steel clashing against steel and the high-pitched whining of magic blasts being exchanged grew steadily louder, until suddenly the door to their chamber slammed open and a dark-skinned young woman with red-streaked brown hair dove inside.

She held a bow in one hand and an arrow in the other, and as Aeron watched, she nocked the arrow and drew it back in one smooth, practiced motion. A moment later, a Divine Host soldier charged into the room and received the arrow in the throat. He toppled back through the open door, exploding into smoke as he hit the ground.

The young woman got up, dusting off her light brown trousers and sandy-green jerkin, and, surprisingly, somehow made her bow disappear by apparently tucking it into the back of her belt. When she glanced behind herself, Aeron finally saw her face, and was again startled when he recognized Lynaka's sister Erike.

"Aeron?" she said in equal surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same," he replied. "We were captured and brought here several days ago."

Erike drew the sword at her hip, a shining white blade with a blue hilt and a yellow gem set in the center of the wing-like crossguard. With an expert flick of her wrist, she sliced through the shackles around Aeron's ankles, then moved up to his wrists. "Are you well enough to travel?" she said. "We will have to leave this place quickly."

"I can fight, if need be," Aeron said determinedly as he sat up. "How did you find us?"

"A group of former slaves found us," she said as she moved over to free his sister. "We had come to the Far South to get more weapons and equipment from the Heavenly Vault, and as we were leaving, they came to talk to us. The Divine Host has allied itself with the slavers, and they are rounding up the former slaves in exchange for half the bodies, to ensorcel for their army. We tracked the slavers here, where we attacked them with the group of former slaves that have joined us."

"I thought Divine Host soldiers reconstituted after defeat," Erys said, pausing for a moment to contemptuously hurl her shackles across the room. "Their numbers are effectively limitless."

Erike gave her a fierce grin. "That puzzled me, also, until Daskin discovered that the soldiers are directly connected to their sorcerer commander; whenever we kill a sorcerer, his control over his soldiers is broken. Those that do not die are reduced to mindless drones, little more than animals, unable to be recruited by any other sorcerer. It seems that there is quite a bit of internal division and rivalry among the Divine Host's ranks, and each sorcerer enslaves his thralls in such a way that control over them cannot be wrested away from him."

"Is your sister here, as well?" Aeron asked, swinging his legs over the side of the table.

The grin abruptly vanished from Erike's face. "She was killed," she said tersely.

"I'm sorry," said Aeron, taken aback by this news.

"You may be able to help me avenge her," Erike said. "Is Ganondorf here?"

"He appears to be the commander of the Divine Host in this area," said Erys. "Although he has been absent of late, engaged in fighting the Goddesses' warriors that have appeared in the area."

Erike turned to her, a puzzled look on her face. "What warriors?" she asked. "This is the first I've heard of them."

A loud whoop that could only be described as joyously aggressive sounded from the hallway outside, and Aeron looked to the door to see four Divine Host soldiers rapidly retreating, shoving each other out of the way in their haste to get away from whatever was chasing them.

A lone young man sprinted past the door a moment later, a sword in one hand and a brilliant globe of crackling orange energy in the other. He stopped in the doorway and hurled the ball of energy, then pumped his fist and grinned fiercely at the sound of multiple explosions down the hall.

He glanced over at them. "Oh, hi there!" he said with incongruous cheerfulness.

It took Aeron a moment to recognize Daskin, the son of Lord Fenris, whom he'd met several weeks earlier. Contributing most to this was the fact that the young man's hair was quite a bit longer, nearly brushing his shoulders, and he'd acquired a scar under his left eye, three thin lines, that appeared long-healed, despite the fact that he hadn't had it the last time Aeron had seen him.

"Seen a Dark Lord around here lately?" he asked, sheathing his sword. "Tall, grouchy, red hair, needs a sword stuck through his heart a few times?"

"You mean Ganondorf?" said Aeron. "He might be around here somewhere. How is he alive again, by the way? I thought your parents killed him at the end of the war."

Daskin waved a hand dismissively. "Long story. We need to get you out of here. Would you mind leading the slaves back to our group while Erike and I go kill Ganondorf? There's a big guy named Teraq who knows where the encampment is; just follow him and help him keep everybody together."

Erike had been staring distractedly at the wall behind them for several moments, one hand on the hilt of the sword at her side. Daskin's affable smile faded into a grim expression as he looked over at her. "He's here, isn't he?" he said.

"I am not sure," Erike replied. "My Triforce is reacting to something, but I do not have enough experience to know what."

"It's him," Daskin confirmed gravely. "I feel it now." He turned to Aeron, and the young captain was struck at how thoroughly all trace of humor had disappeared from Daskin's eyes. "You'd better go," he went on. "This is going to get ugly."

Aeron reached out to clasp Daskin's shoulder. "Good luck," he said, and then he and his sister left, hurrying through the halls of the fortress to where they heard more fighting.

"We should see if Horys is here, also," Erys reminded him as they moved down the hall.

Aeron nodded, briefly stopping to pick up a sword dropped by a fallen Divine Host soldier. He tossed another to his sister. "Let's go."

* * *

Empress Zelda soared through the sky above her capital, rapidly loosing bursts of golden energy from her hands at random places along the tremendous flying fortress. A few cannons fired back at her, but only when she strayed near the enormous crystalline structure on the underside of the aerial behemoth.

While she genuinely was trying to do damage to the fortress, Zelda's efforts were devoted mainly to drawing attention away from Lord and Lady Fenris, who were working busily on the outside of the command tower.

Finally, Lord Fenris alerted Zelda to come and join them through the prearranged signal; a tremendous, roiling explosion that tore an enormous hole in the side of the central tower. The bright flash lit up the night, the sound of dozens of bombs detonating at once like a clap of thunder rolling over the embattled city.

The legions took it upon themselves to also use the explosion as a signal; mere moments after the command tower exploded, the cannons mounted along Belakar City's walls opened fire on the bottom of the fortress, resulting in dozens more small explosions. Zelda could also see arrows and crossbow bolts rising up like a swarm of locusts from the legions' formations scattered through the streets around the docks, though these were largely ineffectual.

Zelda flew through a rain of flaming debris, dodging and twisting in midair as she hurried to the side of the former Hero. From the sounds of fighting she heard as she approached the hole he'd blown in the command tower, she knew he and Midna were already inside. As she approached, she could periodically see a bright flash as Midna loosed another magic blast upon their enemies.

"The sorcerer's in the crystal room!" Midna called to her as Zelda touched down in an explosion-blackened hallway, drawing her sword as soon as her boots touched the steel-plated floor. "Be cautious; something doesn't feel right here."

"What do you mean?" Zelda asked, glancing over as Lord Fenris engaged a half-dozen Divine Host soldiers at once, not seeming in the least at a disadvantage. The sound of his sword smashing against the enemy weapons, and theirs bouncing off of his shield, was like metallic rain, so quickly were they moving.

"His magic feels funny," Midna said. "Sort of familiar, but not quite. I'm trying to figure out if I know him or not." She gestured toward what Zelda supposed was the command room, the moonlight and the fire from the explosion reflecting off of the dark metal of her armor. "If we can get in there, I can blast my way in easily enough."

"Should we help Lord Fenris first?" Zelda had to shout over the noise of the fighting.

Midna smirked, looking over at her husband. "I think he can take care of himself."

As Zelda watched, Lord Fenris bashed one solider with his shield, planted a foot on the soldier's knee as he recoiled, and hurled himself into a surprisingly agile back-flip over the head of another. Partway through his flip, Lord Fenris smashed his blade into the soldier's head, and the soldier's helmet flew off, smashing another in the face, though Zelda couldn't tell if Lord Fenris had planned this or it was simply fortune. As he landed, Lord Fenris swept his sword out in a powerful blow that clove the collapsing soldier in two, then immediately advanced through the smoke and stabbed his blade through the chest of another. Another of his opponents caught the pointed lower edge of Lord Fenris' shield in the stomach, while the fourth to die blinked in surprise at finding the former Hero's blade slid between his ribs to pierce his heart.

The surviving two glanced at each other, then turned around and fled. Lord Fenris chased after them, bellowing fiercely as he held his sword high.

Zelda turned an amused half-smile upon his wife. "Perhaps you are right," she said.

Midna led the way into the chaotic command room, where the two of them quickly dispatched the crew. Zelda was somewhat disturbed to note that most of the men did not turn to smoke, and instead remained where they fell. She put the thought from her mind, darkly reminding herself that these were not the first humans she had killed, though they were the first she remembered.

"Controls, controls… controls…" Midna muttered to herself, looking around the command room.

Zelda ran her eyes over the banks of consoles, all festooned with dials and switches completely foreign to her. The technology here was far advanced beyond anything with which she was familiar, but drawing upon the powers of the Triforce of Wisdom and her own keenly trained sense of logic, she began to put together a rudimentary understanding of the controls.

"It would, of course, be labeled in a language neither of us knows," Midna scoffed, giving one console a contemptuous kick.

A flicker of motion attracted Zelda's attention, and she looked over to see one of the men she had fought grimacing in pain, clutching the wound in his chest as he struggled to breathe.

Zelda drew her sword and crossed to where he lay, placing the point just over his heart. "Tell me how to operate this craft, and I will ease your passing," she said gravely.

He took a deep, shuddering breath, and used it to snarl what was undoubtedly a vile curse in his language. Zelda sighed impatiently and removed one of her gloves. She knelt at the man's side and placed her hand on his head.

Before Midna could ask her what she was doing, Zelda used her powers to rip the man's knowledge from his mind, ignoring his gasps and convulsions as she worked.

When Zelda rose, the man was still. Midna regarded her without expression, but seemed somehow disapproving. Zelda ignored her, crossing to the main control console. She worked quickly, sending the flying fortress on a fast course away from the city. She intended to crash it into the ocean, while the three of them would use their respective flying powers to escape.

Suddenly, a face flashed through Zelda's mind, and her fingers halted upon the controls. A deep-seated sense of fear rushed through her, and she froze, whispering the name that went with the face. When she came back to herself, she realized someone was shaking her shoulder, and looked over to see Midna standing next to her.

"Who's Ibnis?" the Queen of Twilight said, her tone sharp and quick, as if she had asked several times before.

"I am," a deep, exotically accented voice answered from behind them. "Again, Zelda, you try to interfere with my plans for you, unknowingly carrying out exactly what you were supposed to do."

Zelda slowly turned to see the dark sorcerer standing a few paces away, arms crossed over his chest and a smug grin upon his face. He wore a richly embroidered robe of black, dark red, and deep purple, metallic threads woven into the material gleaming in the dim light. His raven-black hair was loose about his shoulders, stirring faintly in the wind from the open door. Ibnis' eyes gleamed with purple light, his full power drawn about himself in preparation for both attack and defense.

"What are you talking about?" said Midna, the blue-green markings on her hands and the similar lines on her armor beginning to glow as she concentrated her own power.

"Oh, it's quite simple," Ibnis said with a sardonic smile. "When I altered Zelda's mind, her true self emerged; she tries so hard to keep her true personality hidden under layers of control and 'morality', but she is truly a tyrant-in-waiting; a cold-blooded, ambitious, power-hungry woman willing to do anything, even murder children, to accomplish her goals."

"You're lying," Zelda said, trying fiercely to keep herself under control. "_You_ killed the Imperial Family, and tried to convince me I did it."

Ibnis merely smiled his terrible, unpleasant smile again. "No, my dear," he said, darkly amused. "_You_ killed your uncle and his family. I merely gave you a little nudge in the right direction. It was your Triforce that undid my alterations, as I suspected it would, but the fact still remains that you are the worst sort of murderer. You have the blood of your father's family, even the children, upon your hands, and nothing you can ever do will remove it."

Zelda clenched her hands into fists to try to stop herself from shaking. "You're lying," she strained out, trying to keep her voice from wavering.

"How about we save the manipulative chit-chat for after we've both stomped you into the ground?" Midna said threateningly, taking an aggressive step toward the dark sorcerer.

Ibnis turned to regard her with another smug smirk. "My, for one who considers herself a queen, your manners are sadly lacking."

"So I've heard," Midna said with a sardonic smirk of her own. "You can commiserate with your master in whatever dark hole the Goddesses put you when I crush you both."

"Overconfident as well, I see," Ibnis said dryly. "I will indulge your lust for battle soon enough, 'my lady'," he said, putting mocking emphasis on the last words. "But for now, do try to control yourself; Empress Zelda and I still have things to discuss."

"What have you done with Horys?" Zelda demanded, hands still clenched at her side.

Zelda hadn't thought it possible, but Ibnis' smug grin turned even more unpleasant and malicious. "He is dead," he said with cruel mildness. "As are his brother and sister by now, I expect."

She wanted to believe it wasn't true, but the news still hit Zelda like a brutal kick to the stomach. She staggered back a step, bracing herself on the console behind her.

"Something makes his family either immune or highly resistant to most forms of magic, including mind control," Ibnis went on. "I gave your fiancé to Ganondorf's scientist to dissect to find out why." He actually laughed, filled with twisted amusement at her pain. "I am sure he suffered greatly before his end."

Something in Zelda snapped, and with an almost primal howl of rage, she hurled herself at the dark sorcerer, summoning her power to eradicate him from existence, down to the last speck.

Grinning cruelly, Ibnis held up a hand, and Zelda cried out in pain as she suddenly felt her power drain away. She collapsed to her knees, clutching her hands to her chest.

Ibnis looked past her to Midna, and triumphantly turned his hand around to show her the back, on which an upside-down Triforce marking shone with a dark gray light. "I am sure you recognize this," he said, hair stirring again as power built up within him. "Forged by Ganondorf, perfected by my god, and now wielded by me! Now do you understand the true power which stands against you?"

"This is not the first time I've faced a man using that…_thing_," Midna replied, her voice beginning to reverberate with power. Zelda looked back at her and saw that the Queen of Twilight's eyes now glowed brightly with blue-green light as she brought the full power of the Fused Shadows to bear.

"Think, Midna!" Ibnis said mockingly. "The Triforce of Shadow drains its power from the Bearers of the Triforce. I can drain every last drop of power from Zelda right now to stand against you. It will surely kill her, while I will survive. Are you willing to make that sacrifice to fight against me?"

"You only have access to a third of the Golden Power," Midna warned, her voice now echoing with a thunderous rumble. "I can kill you before you even start."

Ibnis clenched his hand, and Zelda cried out as even more energy was ripped from her, funneled into the dark sorcerer. She now lacked the strength even to keep herself upright, and collapsed to the cold metal deck.

"She is at the brink of death!" Ibnis cried. "A moment longer, and I will snuff the life from her as I would a candle!"

Midna took a step forward, and he again ripped energy from Zelda's body. Zelda screamed in agony.

"I will kill her!" Ibnis warned. "Stand down, or she dies!"

"Don't… do it!" Zelda strained out. "Kill him!"

"Her life is now in your hands," said Ibnis. "Surrender now, and I will spare her. Advance upon me, and she dies. Even you cannot act quickly enough to save her now. Only the barest spark of life remains within her; I can end her life in an instant."

Black swarmed around the edges of Zelda's vision. She felt weak, so weak, as if she were sliding down an endless slope with no way to stop. The last thing she saw before fading into darkness was Midna's face, twisted in conflict.

* * *

With a mighty blast of concussive force, Daskin smashed the door to Ganondorf's chamber completely off its hinges to careen inside, bouncing off the walls before finally coming to a noisy stop at the Dark Lord's feet.

The enormous circular chamber was set up like a training courtyard, completely devoid of obstacles in the center, with all of the furniture arranged around the outer walls. Ganondorf stood on the far side of the chamber, in front of a throne-like chair. His sword was in his hand, a jet-black copy of the Master Sword with a blood-red gem set into its crossguard.

"Dramatic as always, I see," Ganondorf observed dryly.

"Shut up!" Daskin snarled, swiftly advancing across the chamber, his own sword at the ready in his hand.

Erike was but a step behind him, similarly armed and determined. "You will answer for my sister's death, murderer," she vowed, her voice shaking with rage.

"Just like your fathers," said Ganondorf. "So eager to fight me, without even bothering to learn all the facts. Have you not wondered at the reasons behind my actions?"

"You are a traitor and a murderer," Erike replied. "That is all I need to know."

"How typical of the servants of the Goddesses," Ganondorf said contemptuously. "You are so convinced of your own righteousness that you do not bother to try to understand the situation as a whole." His amber eyes shifted to Daskin, to meet his gaze. "Did you pay no attention to the stories your parents told you as a boy, the tales of their adventures as they fought against me?"

"Stop trying to buy your life with words!" Daskin snapped. "You die, here and now."

"You think you know pain, boy?" Ganondorf roared, angry now. "You think you know tragedy, because you watched the woman you love die? You… know… nothing, _nothing_ about the true state of things!"

With an angry scream, Daskin hurled himself at the Dark Lord, his sword flashing in a blazing fury. Ganondorf parried his first blow easily, then kicked him aside to cross blades with Erike, rapidly exchanging five strikes in quick succession before he knocked her, too aside.

Daskin charged again at the Dark Lord, holding his sword in both hands as he swung with all the skill and fury he possessed. Their swords crashed together again and again, sparking with each contact, and the sound of the clashing steel echoed from the stone walls.

Erike joined him after a moment, and the duel began in earnest. Both of them were skilled, enhanced by their powers, but Ganondorf's skill and power was easily a match for theirs. His dark blade flashed in the torchlight as he skillfully swept it through defensive patterns, keeping both of them at a distance.

Daskin pushed at Ganondorf with another blast of concussive force, knocking him back a step as he threw himself into the Helm Splitter technique his father had taught him. Ganondorf reached up with one long arm and brutally smashed the young warrior out of the air with a powerful blow to Daskin's chest from his fist. Daskin hit the ground hard, the wind knocked out of his lungs, and he groaned as Ganondorf kicked him in the back hard enough to send him tumbling a few more feet across the floor.

As he struggled to regain his breath, Daskin watched Erike engage the Dark Lord, her blade a swelling storm of steel as she whirled it through an offensive pattern almost too quick to follow.

Incredibly, Ganondorf kept up, utilizing a perfect balance of footwork and sword movements to keep the Hero back.

Daskin slowly pulled himself to his feet, ready to charge in again.

* * *

Author's Note: Sorry this was a little late; I got distracted by writing one of my silly humor stories. I needed a break from the drama of this story for a bit, but now I'm nearly done with the humor fic, so I'm back to work on this again. I'm roughly one-third through writing Chapter 22 right now, so I'll try and have that up in a week or so. Till next time, thanks for reading!


	22. Comeuppance

Twenty-Two

(Comeuppance)

Finally, deep within the inky, star-flecked expanse of the heavens, Lynaka's group slowed to a stop. She could hear the two gods talking, but Lynaka's attention was riveted on the awe-inspiring spectacle of what appeared to be an enormous maelstrom made from light instead of water. Twin shining beacons shone out both above and below the swirling disc, like one of the tops she had played with as a child, but on a fantastically enormous scale.

"What is this?" she breathed in wonder. "It seems both incredible and… terrible at the same time."

Raneses the Great moved to stand next to her; somehow, Lynaka felt something around them that felt like the air of the world she remembered, and there was a soft resistance against her feet, though she sensed that this was not the natural state of her surroundings, and that they were inside some sort of enclosure wrought by the power of the gods.

"I do not know," the great king said, one hand resting atop the sword at his side. "I think we are in the heavens beyond the world, though I know little about them." He glanced over at Lynaka, meeting her eyes briefly. "It seems somehow terrible to me, as well."

"Looks like a great big eye," said Link Fenris I, the Hero of Lightning. Daskin's ancestor twirled his replica of the staff he had wielded as a mortal through his hands, pacing back and forth between Lynaka and Raneses and the two gods, Ulina and Hojar. "An evil one, staring at us."

Lynaka pondered the immense swirling disc for a moment, but she didn't see it. "What are they talking about?" she asked Link.

Link paused for a moment, then walked back over to them. "Ulina thinks her sister is in that thing," he said, gesturing to the radiant vortex. "Hojar is less sure." He stopped next to them and pointed to the vortex again. "That's actually several million miles away, by the way. If I heard them right, that thing must be bigger than our whole world a thousand times over."

"Did you say _million_?" Lynaka asked incredulously. "That's impossible!"

Link shrugged. "I get the sense things are very… big… out here. I'm trying not to think too hard about it."

"There is more to the world than I had ever imagined as a mortal," said Raneses. "Even after nearly two thousand years in the home of the gods, I sense there is still so much left to learn about what the Goddesses made. I could spend a thousand mortal lifetimes exploring it all."

"That's exactly my philosophy," said Hojar, grinning at them as he approached. His rustic forester's garb seemed somehow out of place here in the obsidian expanse. "I've been at this for a couple billion years, as you reckon time, and I still don't think I've seen it all yet."

Lynaka decided not to question him on this in favor of remaining focused on their mission. "The other Goddess of Balance," she said, gesturing at the vortex. "Is she in there?"

"Ulina seems to think so," Hojar replied. "She says she can sense her sister's presence in there." He frowned. "Of course, only a god could possibly survive in there, so it is a possibility. Setarekh sure picked a good place to trap her, all right." He snorted. "Avesi calls these things 'black holes', though I think that's a pretty boring name for something so incredible."

"Avesi?" Lynaka questioned, being less than familiar with all the gods' names.

"The Orderly," Raneses the Great said in reply. "A daughter of Nayru. Goddess of logic and order."

"Awfully literal, too," said Hojar. "Yes, it's a vortex so powerful not even light can escape it, but 'black hole'? Why not just call stars 'glow spots' or something?" He gave her a conspiratorial grin beneath his beard. "That's why I'm glad the Three mostly left naming things out here up to me and Ynavi."

"Ynavi the Pathfinder joined the Dark Ones," Ulina snapped a trifle irritably. "She's probably the one who found this place for Setarekh."

"You don't have to remind me," Hojar replied quietly. "I know very well the choices my sister made." He turned to regard the vortex. "Getting in there will be no problem; all we have to do is let it pull us in. Getting back out is going to be the problem."

"With the combined powers of three gods, not to mention the power the Triforce Bearers can draw from the Three, we should be able to manage this," said Ulina, fingers idly plucking at the folds of her deep blue gown.

"So that's why you brought us along," said the Hero of Lightning. "I was wondering why you needed us."

"Those might have something to do with it, as well," Raneses observed, gesturing to a trio of moving shapes prowling before the disc of the vortex.

"Monsters?" Lynaka said.

Link sighed. "It figures," he said resignedly. "The Dark God _would_ leave guards at a prison not even a god can escape. He knew you'd be coming after Ulida sooner or later."

"We can take 'em," Hojar said optimistically. "They're just creatures, albeit extremely powerful ones. If one of the Dark Gods were here, it would be a different story, but I think the five of us can handle three of Setarekh's monsters."

"As long as they don't have tentacles," said Link. "I _hate_ tentacles."

Raneses drew his sword and charged toward the vortex, shouting a fierce war cry. Lynaka drew her own weapon and followed, the others only a step behind.

* * *

Daskin crossed blades with Ganondorf, moving with all the speed and skill he possessed. While not as accomplished as either a mage or a swordsman as his parents had been at his age, he was still able to hold his own against the Dark Lord.

At his side, Erike launched wave after wave of blisteringly fast offensive strikes at the Dark Lord. Utilizing both the power of the gauntlets she had recently acquired from the Heavenly Vault, which enhanced strength, and a belt she had received on a previous visit, which enhanced speed, Erike was actually taking the lead in this fight, managing to force Ganondorf to go purely on the defensive for a few minutes.

Daskin could see the anger building on the Dark Lord's face, until finally, with only a moment's crackling surge of build-up, he released a tremendous concussive blast that knocked both of them several yards away from him.

"_ENOUGH!_" Ganondorf shouted.

"What's the matter?" Daskin taunted. "Can't keep up?"

"I could kill you both in moments," Ganondorf snapped derisively. "This fighting is pointless!"

Erike pointed at him with the Master Sword. "You killed my sister!"

"And for that, among all your myriad other crimes, you deserve to die!" Daskin said, taking an aggressive stride forward.

Ganondorf knocked him back a pace with another wave of force. "Listen to me!" he exclaimed. "If you would cease your attacks for but a moment, I will explain things to you."

"Why should we believe anything you say?" Daskin retorted. "You've been lying to us from the very beginning! I should have just killed you the first time I saw you." He clenched a hand, gesturing in frustration. "You should have stayed dead when my mother killed you. You should have stayed dead when my _father_ killed you! This time will be the last; if it is the very last thing I ever do in this world, I am going to make sure you die and you _stay_ dead forever! You have taken so many lives, trying to preserve your own, and I won't let it go on any longer!" He raised his sword. "This is for Lynaka."

"Lynaka is not dead!" Ganondorf shouted at him.

Daskin paused in surprise. "What?"

"She is not dead," Ganondorf repeated. "She's immortal now."

"What are you talking about?" Erike asked, moving forward.

Ganondorf hissed an impatient breath through clenched teeth. "Triforce Bearers do not die in the same way as other mortals," he explained. "Their mortal bodies perish, true, but upon death, they are immediately resurrected in _immortal_ bodies in the Celestial Realm, to dwell in the home of the gods. The Three Goddesses say it is as a reward for loyal service, but in reality, it is so they can serve as a powerful army against the forces of the Dark God, should he launch a campaign against them like he has now."

"Is this the truth?" Erike demanded suspiciously.

"Yes," Daskin said slowly. "I remember my father saying something about this, from when he almost died in his duel with the Dark Lord Raneses. He said he went to some kind of hall, where he met several other Heroes and even the Three Goddesses."

"You see?" Ganondorf said with an expressive wave of his hand. "I speak the truth. Your sister is not dead, Erike. You will see her again someday."

"That doesn't mean much to me," Daskin said. "I'm not a Triforce Bearer."

Ganondorf's face shifted into a surprisingly soft expression. "Do you love her?" he asked seriously.

"Yes," Daskin replied immediately. "After all those months we spent together in the past, all that we saw and all that we did, all that we've been through together, I know there's no one else I'd rather spend my life with."

Ganondorf nodded slowly. "Then, for her sake, I will explain myself."

Daskin narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"Why do you think I killed Lynaka and not Erike?" said the Dark Lord. "Both of them were there with me. I chose to kill Lynaka to prove my loyalty to the Warlock because I knew she would not truly die, and that her piece of the Triforce would likely go to either you or her sister."

"Whose side are you really on?" Erike said incredulously.

"I am on the only side I have ever been: _mine_," Ganondorf said, spreading his hands. "Everything I do is in service of my goals."

"And what goals are those?" Daskin demanded. "Control of the world?"

"Permanent peace and security for my people," Ganondorf replied. "I may have… lost my way at times, but that is all I have ever truly wanted. That is why I keep coming back again and again, why I refuse to let myself pass on to whatever fate the gods have in store for me. I want to ensure that my people have the security and the prosperity they deserve, for all time."

"Then why have you joined forces with those who want to take away those things?" Daskin asked, finally lowering his sword.

"Do you use your head at all, or is it just there for decoration?" Ganondorf snapped derisively. "Did you ever once stop to ponder on what happened that night? Did things not seem sudden to you?"

"It did seem to happen a little too fast," Daskin admitted. "I mean, after all those speeches you made about how you were on our side and how you were going to do whatever it took to help us win, it did seem a little odd that even you would turn on us that quickly."

"It was an act!" Ganondorf exclaimed. "I had only moments to decide; I knew even we could not defeat the Warlock then, not without the Bearer of Wisdom there to work with us, so I did what I had to do." He stood up straighter. "I chose to act on the perception both he and you had of me; I knew only I could believably be seen as a traitor, that only I could change sides so suddenly without arousing suspicion, and be accepted into the highest ranks of the Divine Host to learn their ultimate plan." He gestured at the walls of the immense circular chamber around them. "And I have. I know what they are planning, which tools they have in place and which they have yet to use against you."

"And what are they planning?" said Erike.

"They move against the two mightiest powers in this world," Ganondorf answered. "The sorcerer Ibnis commands a great host aboard a flying fortress he stole during the Oocca War, with which he intends to crush the Calatian Empire. And the Divine Host still hurls wave after wave of troops against Castle Town. The entire population of Hyrule has once again retreated to the safety of the Deku Forest, but even the powers of the Great Deku Tree cannot hold forever against the might of the Warlock and his sorcerers, should they come after them."

Daskin remained still for a long moment, staring at Ganondorf as he debated what to do; even after all this man had done, even after a century and a half of atrocities great and small that even he readily admitted to, Daskin had to admit that he could sense the ring of truth in Ganondorf's words. Ganondorf was a brutal man, a man that had no restrictions on himself, no compunctions whatsoever about torturing and murdering to achieve his goals, but still, it did not seem to Daskin that even this Dark Lord would so quickly turn on those he had declared his allies without a good reason.

He was telling the truth. Daskin didn't want to admit it even to himself, but what Ganondorf had said was true; he was still on their side after all. Or at least, his goals still aligned with theirs.

"So now what do we do?" he said resignedly, finally, reluctantly sheathing his sword.

Ganondorf seemed surprised by Daskin's acceptance, but he, too sheathed his sword. "First, we must get your friend Aeron and his sister away from here, and back in command of their father's armies. Their father has already fended off a number of assassins, and I suspect the Warlock will soon grow impatient and kill Viserys himself."

"I can see why the Divine Host would not want Lord Viserys and his children as enemies; Lord Viserys is an excellent tactician," Erike said. "I have no doubt he would be able to find some way to deal with the Divine Host's sorcerers sooner or later."

Ganondorf regarded her with a grave expression. "There is slightly more to it than that…"

* * *

Aeron and his sister Erys moved quickly through the cramped, dim and damp stone halls of the jungle fortress, searching for their brother, whom they knew was somewhere in the dungeons.

As they passed an open stone doorway, Aeron heard frightened, pained whimpering, and he stopped, backing up a few steps to look inside.

He plucked a torch from where it hung on the wall outside and moved into the chamber, looking for the source of the noise, and when the light from his torch fell upon it, he felt a deep, burning tide of righteous anger surge out from his core.

Beside him, Erys gasped at what they saw; rows upon rows of iron-barred cages, each occupied with a miserable-looking prisoner. Many of them were crudely bandaged, others were scarred and burned, and all bore signs of monstrous experimentation. Some seemed alert, watching Aeron and Erys warily, but the majority slumped limply against their bars, obviously in pain.

"What is this?" Erys said, her voice thick with both revulsion and anger.

"We're the prisoners given to Zherron for experimentation," one of the closer captives said despondently. The gaunt, pale man with ragged hair and beard, a bandage wrapped crudely around his head that covered one eye, watched them, a spark of hope struggling to emerge from his misery. "Are you... Are you here to help us?"

Erys laid a hand on her brother's arm. "We have to free them," she said determinedly.

Aeron nodded immediately. "Of course," he said. He turned to the prisoner. "Do you know where the keys are?"

"Zherron has them," the man replied. He pointed with one painfully thin hand at the door at the far end of the dungeon. "I saw him go in there not two hours ago, and he hasn't come out since. There aren't any other ways out of that room; I've… been in there before."

Aeron leaned over to place a reassuring hand on the prisoner's shoulder through the bars. "I will return to free you; I swear it."

A tear slowly slid down the man's cheek from beneath his bandage. "Thank you," he whispered.

Filled with purpose, Aeron swept down the dank stone hall, his sword gripped tightly in one hand and his torch in the other. In only moments he had reached the door, but even as he prepared to kick it open, Erys got there first, and slammed the door open with a forceful _bang_.

The small room's sole moving occupant jumped in surprise, pausing in the midst of drawing a blood-stained sheet over a body. Aeron recognized Zherron, and he paused only to hand his torch to Erys before he charged across the chamber to seize the small man by the front of his white coat.

Aeron slammed Zherron roughly against the wall. "Where is my brother?" he growled through clenched teeth, raising his sword to place its edge on Zherron's throat.

Before the scientist answered, Aeron heard a shocked gasp from behind him, and the clatter as Erys dropped the torch. He looked over his shoulder to see his sister staring with horror beneath the sheet that Zherron had been drawing when they entered, weird shadows cast across her face by the torch, which had rolled under the table.

"It's…" she gasped out in a shocked whisper. "It's… him," she said, fighting back a choking sob.

The burning fires of Aeron's anger were suddenly extinguished, replaced by a dreadful cold fury. He slowly turned back to the grim scientist, and dug the edge of his sword ever so slightly into his neck, just hard enough to draw blood.

"Why?" Aeron demanded, his voice shaking with fury.

"Your family possesses an unnaturally strong defense against magic," Zherron replied with infuriating calm. "I was tasked to find out why. Your brother provided me many valuable insights into your family's-"

He cut off as Aeron lowered his sword, drew Zherron back, and slammed the scientist with as much force as he could into the wall. Zherron slumped to the ground with a pained grunt, hands feebly coming up to clutch the back of his head.

His mind still churning with terrible frigid rage, Aeron reached down and snatched the ring of keys from the scientist's belt beneath his coat, and slowly stalked out of the laboratory and back into the dungeon.

It was all he could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other, but Aeron slowly moved down the rows of cages, unlocking each one. He could hear his sister sobbing in the room he'd left behind, but with single-minded purpose, Aeron kept moving.

When he'd unlocked the last cage, Aeron moved back down the dungeon to the laboratory. Some of the prisoners tried to flee, but others stopped them, watching Aeron as he moved on unsteady legs back to where his sister still stood, trying to get control of herself over their brother's body.

With great care, Aeron set his sword down on one of the tables, eyes locked on the slumped shape of Zherron staring up at him from the floor. A slow glimmer of true fear sparked in the scientist's eyes behind his spectacles as he watched Aeron approach.

Aeron leaned down, grabbed Zherron by the lapels of his coat, and with a great cry of rage, hurled him outside into the dungeon. As Zherron rolled to a stop, struggling to get to his feet, Aeron looked out at the gathered prisoners.

"He's all yours," he said grimly, and closed the door.

Aeron ignored the panicked scream that rose up from outside, muffled by the door, as he wordlessly gathered his sister into his arms and let her sob into his shoulder. He closed his eyes and let his own tears flow.

* * *

Lynaka nimbly twisted out of the way as her monstrous opponent let loose with a tremendous blast of blue flame, then sprinted forward on the insubstantial 'ground' to the lower edge of its skeletal black wing. She seized one of the bony protrusions on the wing and used it to alter her trajectory, redirecting her momentum to hurl herself upwards at the creature's back, where a large, sickly green patch of scales pulsed with an unhealthy light.

She plunged her sword into the patch of scales, and the monster howled, a deafening note of pain. It twisted madly, trying to get at her, but Lynaka lightly ran along the raised ridge of its spine to its neck, where she again plunged her sacred blade into its body.

The monster howled even louder than before, but was abruptly cut off as Lynaka whirled her sword over its head and then down through its neck, decapitating it. The great beast exploded into an enormous cloud of orange-flecked black smoke, through which Lynaka ran triumphantly to where the others fought the two remaining sentinels.

Raneses the Great and Ulina fought one, while the Hero of Lightning and Hojar battled the other. Link harried his monster with repeated slashes from his sword and occasional blasts from his staff, distracting the eight-legged spidery monster while Hojar peppered it with gleaming golden arrows.

Nearby, Raneses used his shield to deflect a blast of flame from the great fire-breathing serpent he faced, while Ulina summoned a torrential storm of icy water to drown its flames. As Lynaka watched, jogging over to join them, Ulina added a storm of lightning to the flood, and the great serpent screeched in agony, its mottled red-and-black hide smoking.

The legendary Gerudo king took advantage of the serpent's distraction to hurl his shield up into the enormous snake's neck, a few feet below its head. It shrieked, turning, but with a prodigious leap, Raneses sprang atop his shield and stabbed his shining blade through the serpent's lower jaw and up into its brain. Its slit-pupiled eyes rolled back in its head as it collapsed, and Raneses jerked his shield free before leaping away, a fierce triumphant grin upon his face.

Lynaka paused next to him, watching the Hero of Lightning and the god Hojar finish off their opponent.

Link rolled to the side, avoiding a thrust of the spidery creature's sharp foreleg, and blasted it with a stream of lightning. The gigantic spider reared up and away from the blast, and Hojar took advantage of this to put a golden arrow into its abdomen.

The spider dropped, hissing viciously, and charged Link again. Link quickly sheathed his sword and held the Staff of Lightning out before him in both hands, a challenging grin beneath his fringe of wavy blond hair.

Link allowed the spider to reach him, but he jammed the head of his staff down the thing's gullet, maintaining his grip through its thrashings. With a cry of effort, Link loosed a storm of lightning into the gigantic spider's body, and it screeched again, pulling back. Again and again he pelted it with thunderbolts, until finally the spider toppled onto its back and curled up before vanishing into orange-flecked smoke.

"I'm pretty sure these are just distractions," the Hero of Lightning said as he rejoined the group. "They're too weak to be anything but a stalling tactic while one of the Dark Gods comes here to stop us. We'd better hurry."

Ulina motioned for the three former Bearers to stand closer together, and she took up position behind them, arms spread wide as she adopted an expression of intense concentration. Hojar stood on their other side, his own brow furrowing with effort.

"When I say," said Ulina, "join hands with us and put all your effort into giving us as much power as you can."

Lynaka watched as a whirling nimbus of golden energy surrounded them, crackling with radiant splendor, and as one, their group moved for the crushing maw of the vortex.

* * *

"What are you talking about?" Erike asked the Dark Lord. "Is there something special about Aeron's family?"

"I will save explanations for when Aeron and his sister are present," Ganondorf said a trifle impatiently. "For now we must…" he trailed off, staring intently into the distance.

A moment later, Daskin felt it, too; staggeringly powerful magic was being used a great distance away, feeling to his senses like his mother's Fused Shadows, the Triforce of Wisdom, and a third, altogether darker power that felt vaguely like the Triforce, but twisted and unnatural.

"He's re-forged it," Ganondorf said in an awed hush. "He's made it again, even stronger than I could…"

* * *

In the command room of the flying fortress currently on a swift course out to the ocean beside Calatia, Midna, the Queen of Twilight, stood facing the evil sorcerer Ibnis, who wielded the re-forged Triforce of Shadow.

Seconds seemed to drag on long as centuries as the two faced off. Midna drew deeply upon the Fused Shadows, feeling their power coursing through her. With all the power at her command, she could obliterate this dark man in an instant, leaving nothing more than a puff of ash behind.

Unfortunately, through his dark mockery of the Golden Power, Ibnis could, in that same instant, snuff the life from Zelda, who lay unconscious on the metal deck a few feet away.

"I will not warn you again!" Ibnis insisted. "Surrender now, or Zelda dies!"

Midna's teeth clenched in frustration as she debated what to do. Even as she began to entertain the possibility of surrendering, or to fake surrendering to attack Ibnis when he let go of Zelda, she felt a very familiar presence behind her.

A commanding shout rang out across the command room. "Hey!"

Ibnis turned, startled, to look at the huge hole Link and Midna had blasted through the wall on their way in. Link stood there, his bow in his hands and an arrow stretched back.

Even as Ibnis turned, Midna's husband loosed his arrow, and a number of things happened very quickly.

Ibnis, startled by the former Hero's sudden appearance and attack, reflexively relaxed his draining hold on Zelda for a split second, directing his concentration instead to using his magic to incinerate the arrow before it could reach him.

That instant was long enough; Midna focused her energies on the Triforce of Wisdom in Zelda's body, and utilizing her understanding of something the young woman's mother had done during the war with Zant, drew the Triforce piece out of the Empress and into herself.

A golden triangle of triangles flared with sudden, blinding light upon Midna's hand, and Ibnis snapped his head back around as he realized what had happened. He summoned again the energies of the Triforce of Shadow to rip Midna's power from her body, but he was just a moment too slow.

Midna advanced, charging a tremendous blast of energy between her hands. Ibnis backed away, throwing his concentration instead into trying to summon defenses powerful enough to counter her attack, and was met by the charging Link, who thrust his sword up to the hilt through Ibnis' heart from behind.

Ibnis grunted in pain, staggering forward as Link wrenched free his blade. The Triforce of Shadow flashed brightly upon his hand, but Midna realized only too late that it was being drawn from him. She did not have time to redirect her energy, and so could only follow the artifact with her senses as best she could while someone else snatched it away.

Once it was gone, Ibnis stood before her, mortally wounded but still trying to summon enough power to transport himself away.

Knowing at least some of what he had done, Midna took great satisfaction in loosing her powers upon Ibnis before he could, enveloping him in a cloud of light, incinerating ribbons of power that reduced him to nothing in an instant. He did not have time even to scream.

The former Hero gave the slight wisp of ash a disparaging look as it blew away, then turned to his wife as he sheathed his sword. "How do we stop this thing?" he asked, gesturing at the controls.

"She knows," Midna said with a gesture at Zelda, allowing her powers to slowly fade back to their normal levels. She knelt at the young Empress' side, checking her over, then frowned.

"Is she going to be all right?" Link asked, his armor rattling as he moved to stand next to them.

"I'd better let her wake up before I give this back to her," Midna said, holding up the hand that now bore the Triforce marking. "She nearly died, after all; she'll need a bit of time to recover."

Link gave the bank of controls a speculative look. "So…" he said thoughtfully, "we'll have to figure this out ourselves."

"Val probably knows something about it," Midna said distractedly, running her eyes over the rows upon rows of switches, dials and knobs.

Link gave her a puzzled look. "Hmm?"

Midna turned to look at him. "She's on her way here in the _Phoenix_ with Impa," she said with a wave at a point off in the distance. "They're going to try and intercept us before we hit the storm front a few miles out over the ocean."

A slow, amused smirk drew across her husband's face. "It sure must be nice, omnipotence," he said lightly.

Midna grinned at him. "Yup."

Link crossed his arms over his breastplate. "You need me to wave them in, or are you just going to snap your fingers and teleport them in here?"

_He left himself wide open for this one_, Midna thought amusedly. "Well, Mr. Hero, seeing as how I've been doing all the work here, it's about time you started pulling your weight in this battle. _You_ go show them in."

Link fixed her with an amusedly annoyed look. "Har, har." He moved off to their improvised entrance and headed outside.

* * *

Even as his mother's magic flared in sudden strong effort, Daskin's head whipped back around to look at Ganondorf, who had exerted power of his own during the battle in Calatia.

Ganondorf stood behind them, a small, obsidian-black triangle hovering over his left hand, upon which his gaze was fixed excitedly.

"That had better not be what I think it is…" Daskin said warningly, his hand going for his sword again.

Ganondorf flicked him a contemptuous glance. "Calm down, boy. I grow weary of repeating myself to you."

"What just happened?" Erike asked Daskin, looking concernedly at Ganondorf.

"In Calatia, my mother was fighting a sorcerer who had that thing," Daskin answered, gesturing at the black triangle floating above the Dark Lord's hand. "She killed him, and Ganondorf used his magic to pull it here." He frowned at Ganondorf. "Only, from what my mother's told me, you can't use that thing and the Triforce of Power at the same time."

Ganondorf also frowned. "That is still true, even with this re-forged version. Still, no one else must use this. It is far too dangerous to remain in enemy hands."

"I agree," Daskin said. "So, how do we destroy it?"

Ganondorf looked up at him. "Destroy it?" He shook his head. "I have no intention of destroying it." He looked speculatively at Daskin for a moment, and the young warrior found himself growing distinctly uncomfortable at what he saw in the Dark Lord's gaze.

Suddenly, Ganondorf thrust out his other hand, and something hit Daskin hard in the chest. He stumbled back a pace, reflexively clutching the place where he had been struck, and was surprised to momentarily encounter a metallic shape before a rushing tide of energy flowed through him, stronger than anything he had ever felt before.

Daskin gasped, feeling his strength double, triple, multiply a hundredfold in an instant, his senses sharpening, his magical powers strengthening in equal proportion to his physical strength, until he felt he could take on any challenge, that no task could now possibly be insurmountable to him.

He held up his hand, and a golden triangle made up of three smaller triangles flashed into existence, shining with a powerful golden light. The top triangle shone most brightly, gleaming in the dim torchlight before the marking finally faded into a black Triforce symbol, the upper triangle slightly bigger and darker than the other two.

In front of him, Ganondorf held up a clenched fist, upon which an upside-down Triforce marking shone with a dark gray light, the central triangle formed by the shape of the other three a solid black and gleaming. He opened his hand in a pulling gesture, and Daskin felt power flowing out of himself for a moment before the Dark Lord closed his hand again.

Daskin's power quickly built back up to what he now realized was its normal level, and he frowned curiously at Ganondorf. "What did you just do?"

"The Triforce of Shadow draws its power from the Three Bearers," Ganondorf said. "With this, I merely need to draw power from you whenever I need it. It gives me the strength of all three pieces of the Golden Power without actually having to bear it myself."

"Yes, I knew that," Daskin said impatiently. "What I meant was, it surprised me when you didn't try to take all of it."

"I do not need all of it," Ganondorf replied mildly. "As you force me to remind you again and again, I am not truly your enemy, boy. I find it to my advantage to work with you instead of against you, so we are allies."

Daskin frowned. "But there's nothing to stop you from using that thing to take our power whenever you want."

Ganondorf smiled unpleasantly. "No, there isn't." He gestured at the two of them. "Therefore, it would be in your best interest to ensure that working with you remains to my advantage, would it not?"

Erike scowled at him, but did not draw her weapon. "Come," she said impatiently. "Let us find Aeron and his brother and sister and leave this place."

"The Warlock will have sensed what has occurred here," said Ganondorf. "We should go collect the Bearer of Wisdom and engage him as soon as possible. Only the four of us are strong enough to defeat him."

Daskin pointed at Ganondorf. "I want it on the record that I don't like this."

Ganondorf sighed shortly. "I do not require you to like it, boy. I require you only to cooperate. It is in both our interests to remove the leadership of the Divine Host as soon as possible; he will have realized that my alliance with him is a ruse, or shortly will, and he will move against the Gerudo immediately in revenge. We must destroy him and his sorcerers before that can occur."

"Let's go, then," said Daskin. He gave Ganondorf a narrow-eyed glare. "But I'm watching you. Don't forget that."

Ganondorf returned his gaze condescendingly. "Of course." He gestured at the door to the chamber. "After you."

His mind whirling with both his new power and all that he had learned, Daskin followed Erike outside, already formulating plans for what to do next.

* * *

Author's Note: This chapter's title comes from one of my favorite lines in the 1999 version of '_The Mummy_', in which the heroine says to the main villain's henchman, "Nasty little fellows such as yourself always get their comeuppance. _Always._" I figured it was about time at least a couple of my bad guys got what was coming to them, given the rather depressing tone of this story lately.

Work is progressing swiftly on Chapter 23, and I am also working on finishing up a short story set a few months after '_The Fourth Piece_' that I rediscovered recently. I will post that two-part story in '_Missing Pieces_' when I finish it, so if you are interested in reading that, put me on Author Alert, if you haven't already. Till next time, thanks for reading!


	23. Convergence

Twenty-Three

(Convergence)

The jungle fortress was quiet, almost eerily so. The only sounds Erike heard were the slow drip of water trickling down the wall somewhere in the corridor, and the soft footsteps and breathing of her companions.

Ganondorf walked in the lead, the towering Dark Lord's head nearly brushing the ceiling as he stalked down the corridor, amber eyes on the alert for any threats. He held the Sword of Darkness, his twisted copy of the Master Sword, in one hand, and somehow, despite the full suit of plate armor he wore beneath his purple-lined black cloak, managed to move almost silently.

At Erike's side walked Daskin, who also kept his sword at the ready in his hand. The young man's leather boots were equally soundless, and in his black trousers and dark gray jacket, he was nearly invisible in the dark, torch-lit corridor. If Erike had allowed her imagination to color her perceptions, the newly 'appointed' Bearer of Power might have seemed a wraith, an otherworldly ghost made up of only head and hands, floating down the damp, muggy tunnel of stone.

"This is not how I expected this mission to go," Daskin said to her, breaking the heavy silence.

Erike gave him a silent, questioning look.

"I didn't expect to walk out of here allied with _him_ again, and with a Triforce piece of my own," Daskin clarified. "I expected to have either killed him, or have been killed myself by now."

"Still harboring grudges?" Ganondorf asked with wry amusement. He did not turn to face them, but Erike could hear the smirk he wore in his voice.

Daskin gave the Dark Lord's back an annoyed look. "You'll forgive me if you're not particularly high on my list of potential best friends right now," he said snappishly.

Ganondorf half turned to glance at him over his armored shoulder, an amused gleam in his amber eye. "I do not require your friendship, boy," he said. "Only your cooperation."

He paused, and turned to more fully face the new Bearer of Power. "If you need instruction in the use of your new Triforce piece, I have more than enough experience," the Dark Lord said, a slightly goading edge in his voice.

To Erike's surprise, Daskin did not rise to the bait. "No, thank you," he said with deceptive mildness. Then a wicked gleam entered his own sapphire gaze. "If I need to consult a previous Bearer on how best to use Power, I can always ask her father," he said with a gesture to Erike.

Ganondorf fixed Daskin with an annoyed look of his own, then turned and resumed his walk down the corridor.

Erike did not show it outwardly, but allowed herself a brief flicker of amusement. As it faded away, Erike's thoughts remained on her father, and she wondered where he was right now. Arnak had taken the Nameless One's daughter and her unborn son into his care, and now guarded them against the Divine Host so that the boy could break the Blood Curse when he reached maturity. They were probably still in Castle Town, in a fortified section of the royal palace, but it was also possible that her father had taken Akima to the desert, or to the Lost Woods where she could be kept safe under the protection of the forest guardian, the Great Deku Tree.

The new Hero found herself missing her father, and eagerly awaiting the time when she could tell him that they would both see her sister again someday; with the reports of immortal warriors assaulting the Divine Host throughout their territory in the Far South, it was also likely they would encounter Lynaka in the mortal realms.

"It's strange, having this," Daskin said to Erike, breaking into her thoughts. "Part of me just feels _right_, like Power belongs with me, but another part of me feels sort of guilty, as though I didn't earn this and don't really deserve it."

"I know exactly what you mean," Erike replied quietly, glancing down at her gauntlet, beneath which was her own piece of the Golden Power. Beneath the gauntlet, she saw the blue hilt of the Master Sword, another relic she had 'inherited' from her sister.

She glanced up in surprise as Daskin clapped a comradely hand on her shoulder, gently squeezing before letting go. "I guess what really matters," he said as they continued down the corridor after Ganondorf, "is not _how_ you get your Triforce piece, it's what you do with it."

"I assume that was partly directed at me," Ganondorf said, stopping to peer into a darkened doorway, "as some sort of high-minded, self-righteous attempt at reproach."

The Dark Lord's expression as he pulled back from the doorway and glanced at them made it abundantly clear how unimpressed he was. "Your opinion of my actions means so little to me, boy, that your attempts at pontification make me only want to laugh. You are not even slightly qualified to judge me."

Daskin frowned. "Is there a particular reason you're trying to pick a fight with me, or are you just this unpleasant all the time?"

Ganondorf smirked. "You are amusing to antagonize, even more so because you still do not realize how completely inferior you are to your parents, even with Power in your possession. You are a lesser son of a greater sire, and nothing you can ever do will change that. No matter what powers you acquire, you are ultimately of weaker character than both your mother and father."

Daskin scoffed, and was about to reply, when Erike snapped, "_Stop it!_" in Gerudo.

Ganondorf looked at her in mild surprise, still regarding them both with arrogant amusement.

Erike looked up at the Dark Lord, meeting his gaze resolutely. "_Stop antagonizing him,"_ she said firmly. "_I have lost all patience for this foolishness. We will continue with our mission, and we will do so civilly. I will tolerate no more bickering."_

A very slight trace of respect slipped through the predatory amusement on the Dark Lord's face. "_As you wish_," he replied in their native tongue. He glanced down the corridor. "There is a group of people nearby," he said in Hylian. "Those you seek are with them."

Erike gestured for him to lead the way.

* * *

Being sucked into the vortex was quite possibly the most painful thing Lynaka had ever experienced; she felt like her body was being crushed and wrenched from all sides, squeezed in an agonizingly constricting hold. Even what she remembered of dying paled in comparison to this.

She felt the two gods working as hard as they could to sustain their group and protect them from the overwhelmingly powerful force of the black hole, in conjunction with the other two former Bearers drawing deeply on their connection to the limitless powers of the Three Goddesses.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of torture, the pressure abruptly stopped, replaced with a dreadful sense of infinite emptiness. Lynaka opened her eyes and found herself adrift in a sea of oblivion, an expanse of complete and utter darkness. For a moment, she felt terrifyingly alone, as if only she existed, completely cut off from everything else in the universe.

Then, a spark, a golden pinpoint of light that swiftly flared into a globe of gentle radiance above the hand of the Goddess of Balance, Ulina, cut through the darkness. Lynaka felt a gentle tug, and she drifted, completely weightless, to the goddess' side. The other two immortals, the ancient king Raneses the Great and the Hero of Lightning, soon drifted into view, accompanied by the other god, Hojar.

"She is here," Ulina said, referring to her twin. "She lives still, though her pain is great."

Lynaka looked at the goddess sympathetically; what she had felt for only a few seconds, Ulida had been enduring for thousands of years, broken only by visits from her captor the Dark God, who performed hideous experiments upon her in an effort to find a way to destroy the divine.

As the five of them fell into silence, Lynaka cocked her head to the side as she discerned a very faint sound, like that of crying, but from one who had long since lost her voice. It was an infinitely sorrowful sound, full of pain and abject misery, and Lynaka felt another wave of sympathy for the tortured goddess.

With their powers wrapped around the lesser immortals, the two gods immediately set off for the source of the sound. It was difficult to gauge speed in the expanse of nothingness, but Lynaka still received the impression of traveling at a very great pace. Beside her, Ulina's expression was a mixture of determination and worry.

After what could have been minutes or only seconds, they abruptly came upon a pitiful figure, drifting limply with her long hair a lank, colorless nimbus about her head. Lynaka saw in her the mirror image of the goddess she accompanied, but emaciated and pale. The tattered rags the figure wore had once been a pale sky-blue, she could see, but the colors had long since faded. Despite the eternally youthful appearance granted by divinity, Ulida nevertheless seemed worn and aged. She peered at them through the tangled mass of her hair, her pale blue eyes cautiously optimistic but also terrified, as if suspecting some sadistic trick by her captor.

"Come to torture me again, have you?" she whispered in a dry, reedy voice, a withered, exhausted echo of her sister's. "Again, you take the form of my twin. Does your cruelty know no bounds, Dark One?" Ulida stared at them for a few moments longer, a pale hint of defiance creeping into her expression. "Do what you are here to do."

"No, it is really me," Ulina said tenderly, reaching out to touch her twin's cheek. "I've come to take you away from this place."

Ulida flinched, curling up defensively, but her expression softened when her twin drew her into her arms, enfolding her into a comforting embrace. Tears glistened in the imprisoned goddess' eyes, and she wrapped her arms around her sister, burying her face into Ulina's shoulder with a relieved sob. "It _is_ you," she whispered, clutching her twin. "I thought I would never see you again."

"I'm here now," Ulina said, stroking her sister's hair.

Ulida pulled back, suddenly taut with alarm. "He hasn't…" she said in a horrified whisper, "he hasn't captured you, too, has he?"

"No," Ulina replied, shaking her head. "Hojar and I have come here to rescue you, along with three of the ascended Bearers. Setarekh the Dark One and his demons are busy attacking the others; no one watches this place."

"Then let us go!" Ulida exclaimed. "Before the Dark One can return and trap us all here!"

"It's going to be hard," Hojar cautioned. "It's going to be painful, but we're going to need all the power you can give us."

"Anything to get out of here," Ulida said, a surprising note of determination and strength entering her voice. She reached out and gripped his proffered hand firmly.

The rest of the group joined hands, and Lynaka concentrated on drawing as much power as she could and channeling it to the three gods. Next to her, she felt Link and Raneses I doing the same; the Great King's enormous hand enfolded her own, practically vibrating with power as he drew upon his link to the infinite energy of the Three.

Again came the crushing sensation of the vortex, and Lynaka gritted her teeth at the overwhelmingly painful compression she felt over her entire body. The vitality of the gods and her own powers swirled about her, lessening the strain, though still the pain was almost more than she could bear. She heard the others groaning, and the whimpering of Ulida tugged at her heart despite her own agony; the goddess had gone through more pain than anyone else in existence, and despite her divinity, the crushing vortex was more torturous to her than any of them.

Finally, the pressure lessened, and Lynaka felt like a cork squeezed from a bottle, flying uncontrollably out in a long arc away from the vortex. She felt the sensation of flight for several long minutes, until she felt a gentle tug and then dry, crunchy earth beneath her boots.

Lynaka opened her eyes to find herself in a pale red desert beneath an even paler pink sky, through which the sparkling points of stars shone dimly, as if at the very beginning of evening.

"Where are we?" Link asked, looking around at the strange, alien landscape.

"We are on the fourth planet from this system's sun," answered Hojar, absently running his fingers through his curly hair. "I decided to stop here for a little while so that we could help Ulida recover her strength before we went back to the Celestial Realm; there's likely still a battle going on there, and she's in no shape to fight right now."

"Fourth planet?" Raneses asked curiously. The ancient king knelt to pick up a handful of the red earth, and allowed it to flow through his large fingers. "Is this the Red Star?"

"It's visible from Hyrule at night, yes," Hojar answered. He pointed to a blue speck on the horizon. "That's your world, right there."

The Great King looked at the god in astonishment. "We are standing on earth no mortal feet have ever touched," he said in awe.

"That's still true," the Hero of Lightning said, kicking a rock. It flew surprisingly far, considering its apparent size and weight. "None of us are mortal." Link took an exaggerated breath and let it out, oddly soundless. "See? Nothing. There's no air here, only we don't notice because we don't need it anymore."

Raneses the Great let out an amused chuckle, his teeth shining in his dark face as he grinned. "Even after almost two thousand years as an immortal, it is still easy to forget," he said.

"I am sorry to interrupt," said Ulida, sitting on a nearby boulder, "but did you say there was a battle going on in the Celestial Realm?"

"That's right," her twin confirmed. "The Dark One has declared the truce ended, and fights an open war against us once again."

"He killed my brother Tonas," Hojar said softly. "The Dark One used a power I have never before seen, a bolt of pure destruction, and drained the life from Tonas in an instant."

"Drained is exactly right," Ulida said, absently plucking at the ragged edge of her gown. "Many times, he… tried to do the same to me. The very last time, he…" The Goddess of Balance trailed off, a deeply haunted look in her eyes. "He took almost everything I had, and I know, I _know_ he could have taken it all. In his own cruel way, Setarekh spared me, but only so that he could continue to torture me."

Lynaka felt an urge to move forward and place a comforting hand on the goddess' shoulder, but as she strode over the dry red ground, a sudden thought struck her. "That means you know how the Dark One killed Tonas!" she exclaimed in realization. "You know how he learned to destroy the divine."

Ulida looked up at her, uncomprehending, but like a spark suddenly erupting into flame, righteous anger swept across the tortured goddess' face. "And that means," Ulida said, her voice shaking with fury, "I can use it against him."

Lynaka actually stepped back a pace at the sheer, murderous rage in Ulida's eyes. This was not mere anger; this was wrath backed up by all the power and vitality of a god. This was fury almost beyond comprehension at an eternity of unspeakable torture, now given a possibility for revenge.

"Sister," Ulina said concernedly, taking a step toward her twin.

Ulida stood from her seat, and the earth began to shake around her. A whirling, spinning cloud of light enveloped the tortured goddess, obscuring her from view.

One hand raised reflexively in front of her eyes, Lynaka looked at the figure obscured by the nimbus of light; within the cloud of power, the tattered rags the goddess had worn disappeared, her long hair floating weightless around her. The light intensified for a moment, and when it faded away, Ulida stood before them in a fresh-looking sky-blue gown, her loose, flowing hair once again the same vibrant, shining auburn as her twin's.

On her feet, the goddess now wore sandals laced up to her knees, to which were attached gold-colored greaves. A golden breastplate covered her torso, and over this was a baldric from which a short, straight sword hung at her hip. She held a long, white spear with a golden head in one hand, and in the other a large, oval shield, which was covered with many designs.

"For an eternity my powers have been sealed away by the Dark One's prison, and I have been unable to summon the armor and weapons forged for me by the Divine Smith," Ulida declared. "Now that they are returned, I mean to visit upon the Dark One the destruction he has long tried to visit upon me." Ulida looked over at the other two gods. "Come, I will teach you the secret of destroying the divine. When we reach our home, we will each pass the secret on to one of the Three, that they might devote to destruction those who have so long been deserving of it."

As the three gods communed, the Hero of Lightning gave voice to a thought Lynaka had herself: "She scares me."

* * *

When Empress Zelda's senses finally returned to her, and she was able to pull herself back to consciousness, she first felt the cold metal deck beneath her, followed by a tremendous headache that seemed to split her skull. As she continued to wake up, she heard the sound of a group of people conferring in low voices nearby.

"She's awake," she heard the voice of her bodyguard Impa say.

Zelda opened her eyes to find her loyal protector kneeling at her side, alert scarlet eyes meeting her gaze concernedly. "What happened?" Zelda asked, ignoring her splitting headache as she pulled herself upright.

However, she sat up too quickly, and a wave of nausea rushed over her so strongly that the Empress had to brace herself on the deck for a moment and fight back the urge to vomit.

"Take it easy," she heard Midna say. "You came pretty close to dying there, and right now, you don't have your Triforce to help you recover."

"Why-" Zelda cut herself off with a groan as she very carefully sat up again, taking a series of deep breaths to regain her equilibrium. "Why not?"

The Queen of Twilight moved to stand next to her, her markings and the designs on her robe glowing with a soft blue-green light in the dim command room. "I had to take it to save your life," Midna said. "Ibnis was using the Triforce of Shadow to drain your energy, so I took Wisdom from you while Mr. Hero distracted him." She gestured slightly to Lord Fenris, who stood next to her. "The next time you see your mother, you can thank her for teaching me how to do that," Midna added with a smile.

"May I have it back now?" Zelda said, focusing on not collapsing again.

Midna's smile vanished. "No."

"What?" Impa and Zelda said in unintentional unison.

"What are you doing?" another familiar voice demanded. The Emissary Val stepped into view, looking at Midna curiously, one hand resting on the hilt of the sword at her side.

"You've been making some questionable decisions recently," Midna said, her eyes still fixed on Zelda. "Your bodyguard here filled me in on what Ibnis did to you, Empress, and how you got that title. I realize you're not responsible for what you did while you 'weren't yourself', as Impa put it, but I'm referring to what _I've_ seen you do."

"What are you talking about?" Zelda said, allowing the deadly edge of regal fury to enter her voice. She very slowly pulled herself to her feet, maintaining eye contact with the Queen of Twilight.

"I mean what you did to him, to begin with," Midna said, pointing to the corpse of the man whose knowledge Zelda had forcibly ripped from his mind in order to learn how to operate this flying fortress. "I don't care if we're at war with these people; that was _wrong_. He was unarmed and helpless, and you killed him."

"You said it yourself," Zelda said with cold fury, "we're at war."

Midna pressed on, gesturing next at the control panel. "Let's also consider the course you had this thing on before Val changed it."

"What of it?" Zelda said softly, very quickly reaching the end of her patience.

"You set this fortress on a course over the ocean," Midna said, "and apparently intended to crash it."

"What of it?" Zelda said again, heatedly.

"There's four hundred civilians in the bowels of this thing!" Midna exclaimed incredulously. "You were just going to leave them to die?"

Zelda stopped, the fury that had been building inside her suddenly and brutally doused by this realization. She _had_ meant to crash this flying fortress into the sea. She _hadn't_ given any thought to the Calatians abducted by Ibnis using the apparatus in the fortress' core. In her blind rage and confusion, Zelda realized, she had come perilously close to abandoning her people, when the entire reason she had boarded the enemy vessel was to rescue them. What was wrong with her?

Midna's expression softened, and she took a step closer to the young Empress. "I realize you've been under a lot of stress lately," she said, reaching up to place a hand on Zelda's shoulder. "But, that's why we're here. You don't have to deal with all this by yourself."

Zelda looked up at the Queen of Twilight, then around at the others gathered in the bridge of the flying fortress. "Thank you," she said, struggling to maintain her royal composure.

Her thoughts were in turmoil, and she felt that what she needed more than anything right now was to find a quiet place to meditate and get her thoughts in order. A dark line of reasoning in her mind whispered that perhaps she was still affected by whatever Ibnis had done to her, and that she was _still_ not completely herself. Was she still somehow under the control of the Divine Host, Zelda wondered, even if she could not feel it?

Lord Fenris leaned against the control console, his armor rattling with the movement. "Your mother and her advisors have the situation in Hyrule mostly under control for now, so what we need to decide is what Calatia is going to do. Majacen and the mages he's gathered are keeping the Divine Host away from Castle Town, and everyone else is safe in the Kokiri Forest, but the Dark God's armies are going to assault in force sooner or later, and not even Majacen and the Great Deku Tree can hold them off forever."

Midna kicked the console against which her husband was leaning. "We've got the perfect weapon right here," she said with a sly grin. "These were a major pain to deal with back during the war, at least for most of you," she amended with a smirk, "so I say we turn the enemy's weapons against them." Midna paced the length of the bridge, her flowing robe gently brushing against the consoles as she walked. "As far as I know, this is the last Oocca fortress left; we destroyed a _lot_ of them during the war, and the ones that made it through were either disarmed or completely dismantled."

"Yes," said Val. "Even the shipyards were partially dismantled; I am positive no new fortresses have been constructed since the war's end."

"So where did this one come from?" Link said, resting his hand on the hilt of his sword.

Midna suddenly stopped and whirled, snapping her fingers. "You remember that ship we found when we sailed over here during the war? The one that was completely abandoned, but we never figured out why?"

Link nodded. "_Moonbeam_, I think it was called. I'd forgotten about that."

"This must have been the fortress that hit it," Midna said, gesturing to the banks of consoles. "None of the other fortresses had that device in the bottom of this thing; it must be a prototype, only the Dark Lord never got the chance to put it in all of them."

Val frowned thoughtfully. "I remember something from the debriefings we had with the Oocca leadership after they surrendered; they said one of the fortresses Kyron and Raneses built disappeared sometime during the war, and they never learned what happened to it. They assumed it had crashed into the ocean during its test run."

Midna thumped the console with her fist. "This is it; the Dark Lord Raneses must have been working with the Divine Host, or at least in contact with them."

"What do you mean?" Impa asked.

"It's the only explanation for how we never found this, _and_ how Ibnis got his hands on it," the Queen of Twilight replied. "Raneses must have gotten some of his powers from the Dark God or the Warlock, and in return, he gave the Divine Host one of the flying fortresses he had the Oocca build. They outfitted it with that forced-teleportation thing, and ever since, they've been kidnapping people to ensorcel into their army."

"Raneses must have used it himself for a while," Link said, idly stroking his jaw with a gloved hand as he looked around the bridge. "Remember right after we got to Calatia and met up with Viserys the first time, when we captured that flying fortress Ashei and Auru's group was on? Now that I think about it, their description of the fortress that captured them in Zora's Domain sounds a lot like this one."

"Except Raneses must have moved them and the Zoras to a different fortress at some point," Midna reminded him. "Raneses' shadow-spy things blew up the fortress we captured, remember?"

Link waved a hand dismissively. "Whatever. My point is, we've finally figured out what happened to the _Moonbeam_, how the Zoras were captured during the war, _and_ we solved the problem of how to get Calatia's legions across the ocean to Hyrule quickly." He turned to his wife. "If you can figure out how to use that teleportation device, we can bring the legions aboard this flying fortress, take it to Hyrule, and deploy our armies wherever we need them, faster than anyone else can."

Midna grinned fiercely. "We'll finally be on equal footing with the Divine Host. I like it!"

"Very well," Zelda said, finally speaking up. "While Lord and Lady Fenris get us back to Calatia, the rest of us will go below and see to the prisoners."

Impa nodded crisply. "Yes, my lady."

They turned to leave, but Zelda stopped as she felt Midna's hand on her arm.

"We're going to be very busy for a while," the Queen of Twilight said, "but once we have the legions aboard and we're on our way to Hyrule, you and I need to talk." Midna met her eyes, her expression serious yet compassionate. "I have a lot of experience dealing with mind-control; If you'll permit me, I'd like to examine you to make sure whatever Ibnis did to you is completely gone and you're back to normal. When I'm satisfied, I'll give you back the Triforce of Wisdom."

Part of Zelda wanted to hotly demand what gave Midna the right to decide whether or not she should have the Triforce piece that was hers by right, but another, more rational part of her reminded Zelda that the Queen of Twilight had much more experience, and was right to be cautious in this situation.

Zelda nodded curtly. "Very well," she said coolly, unable to keep all of her annoyance from her voice. With that, she turned to go, accompanied by her bodyguard and the Emissary.

* * *

After a short walk through the corridors of the jungle fortress, Erike's group came upon Aeron and his sister Erys leading a group of disheveled, maltreated-looking people to the nearest exit.

Erike noticed Aeron was carrying a large, cloth-wrapped bundle in his arms, and was struck by the abject sadness on his face and his sister's. Then, with startling clarity, the Hero realized what Aeron was carrying.

Aeron stopped when he noticed them, then, with alarming emotionlessness, set down the shrouded body, suddenly drew his sword, and leaped at Ganondorf.

Daskin intercepted him, holding Aeron back with his newly enhanced strength. "Stop!" Daskin said, shifting to block Aeron as the other man tried to twist around him. "Stop! He's with us."

"_What?_" Aeron exclaimed, his voice shaking with fury. "What are you talking about?"

"Ganondorf's defection to the Divine Host was a ruse," Erike explained. "He is working with us."

"You speak nonsense!" Erys snapped, moving to stand next to her brother. "Ganondorf is an enemy of Hyrule! How can you be working with him?"

Erike realized Erys and her brother knew nothing of the last several weeks' events in Hyrule. Patiently, she explained the situation to them, aided by Daskin. The Dark Lord himself remained grimly silent, his arms crossed over his breastplate as he waited for them to finish.

Aeron fixed Ganondorf with a look filled with pure hatred. "This is… difficult to believe," he said, visibly trying to control himself. He turned back to Erike. "But… I will trust your word. If we must work with this monster to defeat those worse than him, then so be it."

Erys walked right up to Ganondorf, stopping when they were no more than a hand's-breadth apart. Despite the vast difference in height, she eyed him threateningly, staring the Dark Lord down. "I do not trust you," she said bluntly. "I fully expect you to betray us at any moment, and I will be treating you as such. I do not care if you do not like it; I will not be persuaded otherwise, and I will _not_ be caught off guard when you turn on us."

Ganondorf said nothing, but raised a disdainful eyebrow, his lips curling into a mocking sneer that showed Erys just how threatening he considered her to be. The dark-haired young woman did not back down, however, and gave him one last warning look before she returned to her brother's side.

Erike was about to attempt to soothe the raging tempers around her when Daskin's mother's voice suddenly sounded from behind her.

"Hey, where are you?" Midna's disembodied voice inquired of her son.

"In the Far South," Daskin replied. "We're in a fortress in the jungle, helping to free some prisoners of the Divine Host. Where are you?"

Though she could not see the Queen of Twilight, Erike heard the wry grin in Midna's voice. "We're in a fortress of our own, of the flying variety. It's a long story." Midna paused for a moment. "You feel different. Has something happened to you?"

"I've got the Triforce of Power now," Daskin said. He looked at Erike with a wry grin of his own as he continued. "Long story."

"I bet," Midna said amusedly. "Listen, we should meet up; your father and I think we can use this thing to take on the Divine Host, maybe take them by surprise for once. Judging by your news, I'm guessing you might have some interesting things to tell us, too." Midna fell silent for a moment, as if conferring with whoever was with her. "Meet us in the Calatian capital; we're headed there ourselves right now. Oh, and work on a short version of what you've been up to; we don't have the days it would take for all of us to tell the others what we've been doing since we last saw each other."

"Right," Daskin said, lips quirking amusedly. "Laconic. I can do that." He glanced over at the Dark Lord, his smile fading. "Ganondorf is working with us again. I'll explain when we meet."

"Long story, all right," Midna said, abruptly serious. "You'd better have a good explanation for this when I see you."

"Just tell Dad to try not to kill him when we meet up, okay?" Daskin said. "Even though he deserves it, Ganondorf has managed to make himself more useful to us alive right now."

"Has he?" Midna said with deceptive calm. Erike could imagine the glare Daskin's mother would be giving the Dark Lord were she here. "You just let him know that if he's pulling some kind of scam, he'll have me to answer to," she went on. "I killed him once; I'd be more than happy to do it again."

"Noted," Ganondorf said dryly. "Now, my lady, if you do not mind, we have things that still need sorted out here. I imagine you and your esteemed husband are equally busy."

"Quite," Midna replied tersely. "We'll see you in a few hours."

With a smirk, Ganondorf walked off down the hall, ignoring the freed prisoners who flinched when he strode past them.

Erike glanced over at Daskin, who shrugged and moved to follow.

* * *

Author's Note: I've got much more than usual going on IRL; I'm in the midst of giving my bedroom a much-needed remodeling, as well as arduous job-searching and various other excuses. ;) On the plus side, I've joined the 21st century and now have Twitter, DailyBooth, and YouTube accounts, links to which you can find in my profile if you're interested. Also, for those of you who follow my Star Wars series, 'One Missed Strike', I've posted a preview of the upcoming 'New Jedi Order' story on my DA account, which is the 'Homepage' link in my profile. Now all I need is a few more 'Davin Sunrider' accounts, and I can launch my conquest of the Interwebs. BWAHAHAHA! *ahem* Excuse me. ;)

Till next time, thanks for reading!


	24. The Damned Are Done Believing

Twenty-Four

(The Damned Are Done Believing)

The Celestial Realm, majestic dwelling place of the gods, had gone from a peaceful, serene place of contemplation to a chaotic battlefield. All around the divine palace, the Halls of Wisdom, Power and Courage, and the expansive plaza connecting them, gods and demons battled with supernatural fury.

As the last remnants of the teleportation faded and Lynaka regained awareness of the world around her, she shouted in surprise as Raneses the Great suddenly tackled her to the ground. Over his shoulder, she saw a great obsidian ribbon, like a lightning bolt made of pure darkness, sweep through the space where she had been.

Lynaka looked over at where the bolt impacted, her cheek sliding along the smooth marble of the plaza's concourse as she craned her neck. The bolt had destroyed a statue on the edge of the plaza, sending pieces of stone flying in all directions.

She drew her sword and pulled herself up into a crouch behind Raneses' enormous shield. Lynaka looked around the edge to see one of the dark gods, clad in black and dark green, standing with hand outstretched toward them.

He was thin and clean-shaven, with short blond hair cropped close to his scalp. A brace of daggers crossed his chest and a short sword hung at his hip. His clothing was tight-fitting, with little in the way of decoration, like a runner's uniform.

"Which one is that?" she asked the ancient king at her side.

"Feran the Fast, a son of Farore," Raneses the Great replied. "Swiftest of all gods; he was the divine messenger before the Ancient War, when he sided with the Dark One."

At their side, Link Fenris I, Hero of Lightning, asked, "Was that one of those god-destroying bolts or just a regular one?"

"It could not have killed one of us," said Ulina, Goddess of Balance. "As far as I know, only Setarekh himself knows the secret of destroying the divine."

"All right then," said Link, hurling a whip of chain lightning back at Feran. The god blurred with speed and outran all but one of the bolts, which knocked him off his feet.

Feran jumped to his feet, his face twisted with rage, but was immediately hurled to the ground again by the thrown spear of Ulida, which hit him in the shoulder. The newly freed goddess drew her sword, and with a great cry of rage she charged across the plaza and plunged it into Feran's chest.

As Lynaka watched, twitching fingers of obsidian energy began to twist around Ulida's hand. The goddess' own bolt of darkness coiled in a serpentine course around her blade before it lanced into the demon's body with a brittle thunderclap. Feran screamed in agony, his voice nearly drowned out by the sound of the discharge, then slumped into stillness.

At that, it seemed every combatant halted in place and stared at the Goddess of Balance, who had just done something which up till now had happened but once in all the eons the gods had existed: she had destroyed a divine being.

"_**She's learned the secret!"**_ the painfully loud and deep voice of the Dark God Setarekh bellowed across the plaza. _**"Stop her now!"**_

Lynaka looked over at the shrouded form of the rebel gods' leader, his cloak flaring out around him as he abandoned his battle with one of the other gods and ran towards Ulida.

Each of the other remaining demons raced for their position, brandishing weapons and swirling with energy. The other gods came in pursuit, racing to their defense, but it was clear the enemy would arrive first.

Next to her, the Hero of Lightning said an extremely impolite word which Lynaka thought perfectly summed up the situation.

Her fingers tightened around her sword. At the edges of her vision, Lynaka could see the other ascended Bearers readying their own weapons. Link's jaw was set in determination, sapphire eyes roving over the line of charging dark gods. On her other side, the enormous form of Raneses I stood with sword and shield in hand, similarly determined. However, he seemed almost… calm; confident, even.

Lynaka wished she could feel the same; the Dark God himself was at the front of the charging line, dark energy crackling around his fingers.

The twin Goddesses of Balance stood before her, contrasted; Ulina's concern -perhaps even outright fear- was plain on her face, but her sister Ulida looked only angry.

"Together!" she said sharply over her shoulder, and Lynaka was confused for a moment; did Ulida intend for them to charge?

But then, she saw the glances exchanged between the three gods and she understood.

As one, Ulida, Ulina, and Hojar raised their weapons and unleashed from them twisting ribbons of blackness, bolts of pure destructive energy.

Within his enshrouding hood, the Dark God's glowing purple eyes flashed in surprise, and he suddenly halted in his charge and hurled himself to the ground. Behind him, one of the other rebel gods was not so quick, and she was consumed by the destructive force, shrieking.

Without pausing, each of the three gods turned their destructive bolts on the other rebels, who scrambled, frantically trying to avoid the power that was now turned against them.

The Dark God snapped a command, but Lynaka could not make out the words over the noise of the battle. Instantly, the remaining dark gods stopped and ran to encircle their leader, throwing up a swirling, coruscating shield of crimson energy.

Within the shield, the demons' panicked expressions suddenly turned to triumphant grins, and they glared contemptuously at the three gods before them. In the center, their leader stood with arms outstretched, eyes closed in concentration.

"What's he doing?" Ulina shouted.

The rebel gods within their shield suddenly began screaming in agony. Puzzled, Lynaka strained to see past the swirling cloud of power around them. Faintly, she could make out their twisted forms rounding on the Dark One in surprise, wordlessly questioning this sudden betrayal.

Mindless of his followers' frantic attempts to escape, the Dark God spread his gloved fingers, and it seemed to Lynaka that energy was draining from his demons into himself.

The agonized screams reached up into an awful crescendo, and then suddenly, chillingly ceased, and as one the rebels slumped to the ground in the great plaza, by all appearances stone dead. The Dark God was gone, only a whirling vortex of red-and-purple energy where he had been.

"What did he do?" said the approaching goddess Cyrinna, her war-hammer hanging slack from her fingers in astonishment.

The Three Goddesses themselves approached, slowly walking over to their dead rebellious children.

"The Dark One has drained all the power from his comrades into himself," said Nayru, kneeling next to one of the still bodies.

"And he has fled into the mortal realms," said Farore, staring intently at the vortex.

Next to her fellow creators, Din stood scowling at the vortex. "That is not all, sisters," she snapped, voice taut with fury. "With the power he took from his comrades, Setarekh has destroyed the connection between the Celestial Realm and the mortal lands. We cannot chase him, for even we Three will need time to repair it."

Moving suddenly, Ulida reached out and touched Lynaka's temple briefly. Lynaka stumbled at the dizzying rush of power she felt, and just as she was about to ask what the newly freed goddess was doing, Ulida pushed her into the vortex.

Light exploded and swirled around her, an endless tunnel of wildly varied colors. Lynaka felt as if she were falling from a very great height, though she felt no sensation of wind.

In her mind, Lynaka heard the voice of the Goddess of Balance.

"_I am sorry for not explaining first, child, but I had no time. The vortex is even now closed in the Celestial Realm, and none of us can follow you to give you aid until the Three repair the bridge between our realms. You must do this on your own._

"_I have given you the secret of destroying the divine. You must use the weapon you have been given, your celestial version of the Blade of Evil's Bane, to destroy the form Setarekh must take in the mortal realms. _

"_When the Great War was done and all gods swore to never again interfere in mortal affairs, the Three changed the fabric of the universe, limiting the greater portion of divine power to the higher planes of existence. No god can use their full power in the mortal realms; there Setarekh is vulnerable, for he must fashion for himself a lesser form. Even if we pursue him, we must also take lesser forms; thus is this both an advantage and disadvantage for him._

"_You were the last Bearer to ascend to the Celestial Realm; your connection to the immortal realms is weakest, and of all who dwell here, your connection to the mortal realms is strongest. Thus the reason I chose you, Lynaka; only you could survive the journey to the mortal realms and still have power enough to match the Enemy._

"_The power I have given you, combined with the power of the Celestial Sword, can destroy Setarekh's mortal form. He will be weakened by this, and then the Three can finally put an end to him for all time. You must search him out, find where he has hidden himself in the mortal realms, and do battle with him._

"_You cannot do this alone, child; even though your powers as an immortal are great, they are still no match for even a weakened god. You must also find the Three Bearers of the Golden Power. Only with their help can you match Setarekh. Each of them must also bear a divine blade; your sister and the prince of the Twilight Realm already have their weapons, but one remains; the Bearer of Wisdom must have a weapon to match theirs, for only with these combined powers can you stand against the Dark God and his mortal servants._

"_This is your destiny, daughter of the sands, the most important thing you will ever do with the power you have taken and been given. On your shoulders rests the burden to protect all of our beloved creation. It is a weighty responsibility, more than any god should ever ask of a mortal, but in your heart I have seen your strength, and I know you can do this._

"_Go now, Lynaka. Go with the grace and blessing of the Three Golden Goddesses and their children."_

With a great wrenching, almost tearing pain, like that she had experienced going through the great vortex to rescue Ulida, Lynaka fell through a storm of light and landed heavily against something hard and rough. She felt leaves scrape against her face and arms, and then she was falling again.

Finally, Lynaka landed heavily in the mud next to the base of the tremendous tree and lay still for a moment, reveling in the feeling of rain falling onto her bare face and arms. She was back now, she knew, back in the mortal realm where she had been born. She would see the people she loved again, and would soon fight at their side against the greatest evil the world had ever known.

But for now, Lynaka simply exulted in the feeling of being back in the mortal realms. Raising her arms to the heavens, she stood and let the rain wash over her.

* * *

Daskin scowled up at the heavy black clouds hanging over the emerald canopy high above his head. Did it _ever_ stop raining in this blasted jungle?

At his side, walking at the head of the column, Erike seemed similarly annoyed by the rain. It had been a novelty to her at first, he knew, but the young Gerudo warrior was quite tired of being wet all the time. Strands of her dark brown hair had escaped the long braid that hung down her back, and now lay plastered against her face with the steadily increasing rain.

Daskin heard the rain plinking off of Ganondorf's armor behind them, but he did not turn to look at the Dark Lord. Instead, he glanced at the column of former captives, passed his eyes over the pale, emaciated but somehow joyous faces of those who had been imprisoned in the Divine Host's fortress deep in the jungle. Finally freed, they were now on their way to the camp of similarly escaped slaves to be reunited with their loved ones.

Not every reunion would be a happy one, Daskin thought grimly. Aeron and his sister Erys bore the body of their brother, murdered by the deranged scientist who had been experimenting on the prisoners for his evil masters. Their father Viserys knew nothing of his son's death yet, and neither did Horys' fiancée Zelda.

He would be the one to tell her, Daskin decided. He hadn't known Horys very well, but with Zelda he had the bond of friendship and now the bond of being a fellow Triforce Bearer. He had lost the person he loved, too, so he acutely understood the pain Zelda would be in.

As they often did lately, Daskin's thoughts drifted to Lynaka. Even with what the goddess they had met in the jungle had told him, that Lynaka was not truly dead, he still missed her. Through the quirks of time travel, it had only been a few months in this time since they had first met, but on their journeys to the past, he had spent nearly a year's worth of time getting to know and love her.

He thought back on some of the times they had shared; their first meeting in the square in Castle Town, exploring the deserted fortresses of the Dark Lords with her, the sudden storm and crashing in the Far South, reuniting with his father, and then the journey into the distant past, to the time of Raneses the Great so that he could help her understand and break the curse inflicted upon her people.

Distantly he knew that as a Triforce Bearer, he would now certainly see Lynaka again someday, but not until he died and ascended to the Celestial Realm. He faced a lifetime without her, when what he _knew_, after all the time and adventures they had shared, that what he wanted most was a lifetime spent with her.

Daskin sighed as he marched through the jungle, no longer even mindful of the rain pouring down from above and soaking him. That could keep him going, he supposed; even if he had to spend his mortal life without her, at least someday he would see Lynaka again.

Off through the rain, he seemed to see her; a tall, dark-skinned young woman with fiery red hair, dressed in loose white pants and a sleeveless sandy green jerkin in the style of her desert people. At her side she bore a sword, but when he saw it, Daskin frowned to himself, since he did not recognize it; the sword closely resembled the Master Sword, but it had a white hilt and a green gem, and it rested in a scabbard of the same colors.

Daskin stopped and blinked. When he opened his eyes, the woman was still there, standing with her back to him, her arms outstretched and her face turned up to the storm.

"Do you see…?" he heard Erike say next to him. When he glanced over at her, she too was staring at the figure, as if she also recognized the woman but could not believe she was there.

Daskin moved a few steps closer. "Lynaka?" he called over the sound of the storm.

The woman turned at the sound of his voice, and it seemed to Daskin that his heart stopped for a moment as he saw her face; it _was_ her!

She peered at him. "Daskin?" she said, and it was Lynaka's voice he heard.

Suddenly he was moving, running through the rain toward her, and he caught her up in his arms. Beneath his fingers he felt skin and clothes and hair; she was _real!_

"It is you!" Daskin exclaimed delightedly.

Without pausing, still irrationally fearful that she would fade away, he kissed her. His heart soared as he felt the soft lips beneath his and her arms go around his back. Somehow, through some miracle, this _was_ Lynaka, and she was back here with him again!

When at last they parted, he looked into her eyes, those rich brown eyes he knew so well, and Daskin felt as if he would burst from sheer joy. He saw his own joy reflected in her face, in her smile, and he drew her into his arms again, holding her tight. He felt her squeeze him back, and for a brief, perfect moment, all seemed right with the world.

Daskin heard footsteps behind him, and he released Lynaka to turn and see who it was. Erike stood there for a moment with an astonished expression, as if unable to believe what she was seeing, but then she rushed forward and embraced her sister.

"It's really you!" Erike said. Daskin thought he even saw tears brimming in her eyes, though it could just have been the rain.

"Yes," Lynaka replied, grinning. "It really is me."

"But how are you here?" Erike asked, blinking away the rain that continued to run down her face.

Lynaka looked first at Daskin, then back at her sister. "I've been sent back, with a most important mission. I'm glad I found you two so quickly; we must go to Zelda and bring her with us in pursuit of the Dark One."

At Daskin's inquiring look, Lynaka explained. "The Dark God has fled the battle in the Celestial Realm, and is hiding here in the mortal lands. One of the other gods has learned his secret power to destroy the divine, and she has given it to me so I can weaken him enough for the Three to finish his destruction."

"But why you?" Daskin asked. "Why wouldn't she just do it herself?"

Lynaka held up a hand. "I will explain when we are all together again. There is not much time. The Dark God will be searching out his mortal armies, and he will soon lead them against the other kingdoms. He will try to destroy as much as he can before he is destroyed himself, and we must stop him."

"My mother and father are with Zelda," Daskin said, "and we were planning to meet up with them soon, anyway. Once we get these people back to the camp, we can just go straight there." Suddenly he paused, his enthusiasm dampened. "Oh," he said, looking over at Lynaka. "You're not going to like this, but Ganondorf is working with us again. He claims he never _actually_ turned on us; apparently it was all a scheme of his or something. He's got the Triforce of Shadow back."

Lynaka frowned. "I am immortal now; he poses no threat to me, even with all his dark powers. If he is still serving the Enemy, I will destroy him; I promise you that."

"How fortunate then, that I am not a servant of the Enemy," Ganondorf's voice said from behind them. "For I still have much to do in the mortal realms, and I am not yet ready to take my place among the immortals."

Lynaka scowled at her murderer as he approached. "Bearers who abuse their power instead of using it as intended are not allowed entry to the Immortal Halls," she said angrily. "They are destroyed, sent into oblivion where they belong. _That_ is the fate awaiting you, Dark Lord."

Ganondorf smirked. "Yes, yes," he said unconcernedly. "You are full of wrath, as I thought you would be, but consider this: Would you have the powers now at your command if not for me?"

"What are you talking about?" Lynaka said, one hand dropping to the sword at her side.

"Why do you think I killed you and not your sister when the Warlock demanded a test of my loyalty to the Divine Host?" Ganondorf said, still smirking. "Because I knew _you_ would ascend to the Celestial Realm, and when the Goddess of Balance was rescued and the Dark God's secret of destroying the divine was learned, _you_ would be the one sent back here to face him."

"How could you possibly know all that?" Lynaka said, astonished.

Ganondorf grinned smugly. "Young warrior, you would be surprised at all I have learned. You do not live as long as I have without understanding a great deal about this world and the realms beyond it."

"Tell me how you know all this," Lynaka demanded.

"Later," Ganondorf said dismissively. "We have other concerns at the moment. I must tell your friends their part in all this, and then we must rejoin the Bearer of Wisdom and go on the hunt for the Dark One."

Lynaka took a step forward and glared up into the Dark Lord's eyes. "Know this," she said threateningly. "You may have some measure of power over them with your Triforce of Shadow," she gestured to Daskin and Erike, "but _I_ can destroy you at will. Remember that, _betrayer_," she spat, the last word in Gerudo.

Ganondorf said nothing, merely standing there with his arms crossed over his chest with the rain pouring down over them both.

Lynaka held his gaze for a further, warning moment, then she turned and reached out to take Daskin's hand. "Let's go," she said.

Daskin set off through the jungle at Lynaka's side, his mind full of questions, but for now, knowing they would later be answered, he contented himself with being together with her again.

* * *

In her throne room in Hyrule Castle, Queen Zelda watched from her throne as the wizard Majacen slowly paced the carpet in front of her, frowning off into the distance at something only he could see. Even now, nearly forty years after the first time Queen Zelda had met him, Majacen seemed unchanged, eternally a wise old man still strong and full of life, with no trace of frailty.

Something seemed to be weighing heavily on the Emissary, his shoulders slumped as if beneath a great burden. Periodically, Majacen would bring up a hand to stroke his chin beneath his long gray beard, and his frown would deepen.

"What is it?" the Queen said, leaning forward in her throne. "What troubles you, Majacen?"

The wizard stopped his pacing and looked up at her. "Distressing events are unfolding in the world, Your Majesty," he said. "Your daughter is now with Lord Fenris and the Queen of Twilight, but what I sense from her alarms me. I sense… a darkness within young Zelda, a darkness I did not know she possessed. And there is more: the Triforce of Power has changed hands, and a dark and terrible power has come into the world. I fear it is the Enemy himself come to lead his mortal armies against us. Even I cannot stand against a power as great as his, Your Majesty, and I fear for our realm."

"I have sensed this darkness as well," the Queen said. It had come to her earlier that day, a sense of great evil more powerful than anything she had ever encountered, even the two Dark Lords she had fought in her younger days. "What of my daughter?"

Majacen looked off into the distance again. "When I focus my senses on her, I feel within your daughter a measure of darkness, not quite evil but disturbing nonetheless. Something terrible happened to her, I fear. I wish I could go to Zelda to help her through this, but I dare not abandon the defense of this city. Most of your people are safe within the domain of the Great Deku Tree, but I must remain here to provide similar protection to those who have remained in the capital. I sense that my fellow Emissary Val is with your daughter, and this brings me some small measure of comfort, but still I wish I could be there myself."

"I have not been able to sense my daughter through the cloud of the enemy's power for some time," the Queen said. "But I, too wish I could go to her myself."

Majacen sighed, placing his hands on his belt. "Something very important is about to happen, I feel," he said thoughtfully. "I can only hope that we will be ready."

* * *

Later, when they had all returned to the sprawling encampment in the jungle, Aeron and the others gathered in the tent set aside for him. Ganondorf had called them there, since he and the others from Hyrule would be leaving for Calatia shortly, and he claimed he had something important to tell Aeron and his sister.

"What do you want?" Aeron said curtly as he lowered himself into a campaign chair. "I have to get these people to one of my father's cities, and I want to leave as quickly as possible."

"This is important," Ganondorf said from where he stood by the far wall of the large canvas tent, next to a lantern on a small table.

The others -Daskin, Erike, and Lynaka- sat in chairs of their own, waiting for Ganondorf to begin. Erys was also there, but she paced impatiently in front of the entrance to the tent, idly tapping the fingers of one hand on the hilt of the sword at her side.

"Why do you think the Divine Host captured you and your brother and sister?" Ganondorf said to Aeron. "What do you know already?"

"It's something to do with our resistance to magic," Erys said before Aeron could answer. "Apparently our family is naturally resistant to mind control somehow."

"Correct," Ganondorf said. "It is for this reason I have called you here; during my time with the Divine Host, I learned many things about the plans of the Enemy. They accepted me as one of their highest-ranking members, and so I was privy to almost all of their most secret information." He paused for a moment, half-smiling smugly. "Including some of their greatest weaknesses."

"And those would be?" Aeron said impatiently. "Hurry up, Dark Lord. I don't have time for your little games."

Ganondorf smirked. "As you like." He crossed his arms over his chest, eliciting a clang from his armor. "Arguably, the greatest advantage of the Divine Host is the degree to which their soldiers can be controlled; a cunning sorcerer-commander can deploy his troops and maneuver them much more quickly than a conventional commander. This is done through direct control, through dark arts of mental manipulation passed down from the Dark One himself."

"We know all this," Erys said shortly. "My father fought Raneses' armies during the last war, who fought the same way, and we still beat them."

Ganondorf arched an eyebrow. "Tell me, did your father ever tell you what happened when one of Raneses' control crystals was brought aboard his flagship, and the Dark Lord managed to seize control of his crew?"

"Yes," Aeron replied. "Many times."

"Did he ever learn why he alone was able to break free of Raneses' control?" Ganondorf said, leaning forward slightly.

"He didn't know," said Erys. "He still doesn't."

"It was because your family is one of the last remnants of the Ancient War between the Goddesses and the Dark God," Ganondorf said. "You are not, strictly speaking, completely human."

"What are you talking about?" Aeron demanded, sitting up straighter in his chair.

Ganondorf gestured at Aeron and his sister. "During the Ancient War, the fighting was just as fierce between the gods' mortal followers as it was between the gods themselves. Immensely powerful mages on both sides worked tirelessly to gain the advantage over the other side, and when the fighting became especially desperate near the war's end, the mages began to fashion living weapons, creatures of magic made in the image of man."

"You're saying I'm some kind of magic weapon?" Erys said skeptically.

"Your family is descended from some of the living weapons of the Ancient War," Ganondorf replied. "You're all at least partially immune to mind control, and if you work at it, you could help prevent its use on other people."

Erys crossed her arms, her expression still faintly doubting. "Go on."

"During the Ancient War," Ganondorf explained, "the followers of the Dark God developed powerful techniques of mind control, not only to use on their own armies, but to use against the opposition. In response, the followers of the Golden Goddesses imbued powerful countermeasures into a select group of their own. These 'disruptors' not only prevented the minds of their own armies from being seized, the most powerful of them were actually able to disrupt the effect on the Dark God's army as well, throwing them into confusion."

Aeron stroked his chin thoughtfully. "And you think we can do this?"

"I'm certain of it," Ganondorf said, nodding once. "The signs are there in your family; unusual eye color, hair going gray early, not to mention the already-demonstrated resistance to mind control." He gestured to Aeron. "Your family goes gray early because you are all unconsciously working extremely powerful magic, and that sort of thing takes a toll on the body."

"But we're human," Erys said. "Humans can't use magic; they just don't have the capability."

"As I said, you aren't completely human," Ganondorf replied, a trifle impatiently. "Your distant ancestors who were made into 'disruptors' during the ancient war were infused with the ability to use magic by the most powerful wizards of that age; the spells were so strong that the traits have persisted in your family for thousands of years."

"So why aren't all the people of Viserys' homeland like this?" Daskin asked. "After this long, you'd think there would be millions of these 'disruptors' running around, and mind-control wouldn't have worked on any of Viserys' crew."

"Maybe there are millions of us somewhere," Aeron said. "My great-grandfather is the one we think left the region our family is originally from. My grandfather was born elsewhere, and his father never told him much about his homeland. We have no idea where we're from. Our people aren't related by blood; we're the members and descendants of several mercenary companies my father and grandfather consolidated into one organization."

Erys took a step forward. "We're getting off topic here." She looked over at Ganondorf. "So, this is why the Divine Host captured the three of us?"

The Dark Lord nodded once. "You and your brother, along with your father, are the last remaining disruptors of which the Divine Host is aware. Should you work at it, you would be able to consciously control your power and use it in battle. You are one of the very few threats that they cannot overcome, and that is why they captured the three of you and…" he trailed off, his expression fading into uncharacteristic solemnity.

"Murdered Horys," Erys finished, her mouth set in a grim line. "Fine," she said, a rising note of determination in her voice. "Do you know anything about these powers we're supposed to have?"

"You mean, can I teach you to use them, since I am myself a sorcerer?" Ganondorf said. He frowned. "I suppose I could, though the Emissaries know more about this sort of thing. Ideally, you would want Majacen to teach you to use your powers, though he is occupied with Hyrule's defense right now."

"Val is with the others," Daskin said. "I mean no offense, but I'd rather trust her to teach these two to use powerful magic than you." He smirked when Ganondorf frowned. "Actually, you know what? I _do_ mean offense. I mean lots of offense. You're the one person I honestly don't mind offending."

Ganondorf said a word in Gerudo that Aeron suspected was not polite, judging by the glare with which he accompanied it, then ground out, "I suppose you should transport us to Calatia now. We need to meet up with the others."

Daskin grinned infuriatingly, then shrugged. "All right." He looked over at Aeron. "See you in a bit," he said, then raised his hand.

As one, he and the three Gerudo disappeared in a swirl of black squares and blue-green light.

Erys smiled briefly, but the amusement slowly faded from her eyes as she looked over at her brother. "Have you been able to get through to Father's Communication Stone yet?"

Aeron shook his head. "No. None of the connections I tried are working. The Divine Host must still be blocking them in this area."

Erys gestured to the rough map which she and Aeron had been sketching out based on their guesses as to where they were. "If this is the volcano they described," she tapped the map with one finger, "then I would guess we are here." She indicated a place slightly to the southwest. "The nearest city is some fifty miles from here. It will take us days to hike through this jungle, especially with all of the refugees."

Aeron smirked. "Luckily, Daskin told me of a faster way to get them there."

"How?" Erys inquired.

Aeron adopted his best impression of Daskin's obnoxious grin. "You'll just have to wait and see."

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks to hairyhen for beta reading this chapter; he saved me a bit of embarrassment by catching a couple of particularly boneheaded mistakes. Anything boneheaded remaining is solely my fault. ;) Till next time, thanks for reading!


	25. The Cursed Can Dream No More

Twenty-Five

(The Cursed Can Dream No More)

If nothing else, it could certainly be said Empress Zelda knew how to make an entrance.

In the pale light of the predawn hour, sentries on the walls of Belakar City saw the flying fortress on approach and raised the alarm, but when a spectacular burst of light cast a glowing simulacrum of the Calatian Imperial standard across the sky above the city for several seconds, its citizens' panic turned to puzzlement. Was this a trick of the enemy?

With expert timing, the flying fortress sailed over the countryside, and was brilliantly outlined by the rising sun as it settled over the city, its twisted spires wreathed in a halo of golden light. As the awed Calatians gazed up at the fortress, a small airship descended from an open hatch on the bottom of the gargantuan structure, a figure standing atop its upper hull.

The sunrise glinted off of highly polished armor, and the wind stirred a long scarlet cloak, sending it streaming around the figure atop the airship. Some sharp-eyed citizens recognized their Empress even before her magically amplified voice echoed down from the fortress above them, ringing with a commanding echo.

"People of Calatia," Empress Zelda began, "see the weapon of the enemy which we have captured this night! With this battle platform, we will take our legions to the Enemy's most secret and secure fortress and lay waste to it. We will show them the true strength of our mighty empire!"

From her perch, Zelda could hear the cheers of the Calatians, and she reveled in the sound. Truly, she was born to lead an empire, she thought. Midna's ridiculous concerns about her being in some way still tainted by Ibnis' dark power were completely unfounded. The so-called Queen of Twilight ruled only a realm of half-light inhabited by passive, serene citizens. True, the Usurper King had fanned the flames of passion in a few of the Twili during his coup and brief reign, but Midna knew nothing of commanding a vast empire, and had no idea of the power and responsibility Zelda held. Who was she to decide if Zelda was worthy to bear her birthright, the Triforce of Wisdom?

"Legions!" she cried out, putting all the royal command she could muster into her voice. "Assemble on the plain outside the city. You will be taken up into the fortress, and then we leave immediately for the fortress of the Divine Host! To war!"

As the people of the city cheered again, the disciplined, regimented legions of the Calatian army that had gathered here in the capital made their way through the streets to the main city gate, their armor gleaming in the morning sun.

First came the mounted knights, the cavalry, their commanders carrying lances from which fluttered long pennants with their regimental standard. Next came the infantry; the swordsmen, the pikemen, and archers, their armor, weapons and uniforms all impeccably maintained. Even in the hurry with which they moved through the streets, the movement of the army was still an awe-inspiring sight.

As the legions moved into the great plain before the city, the fortress behind her opened and lowered out the teleportation array, the sinister crystal flower used by the enemy to kidnap untold numbers of people. Now under Midna's command, the teleportation array returned those who had been snatched from their homes during the battle the night before to the main square of the city, depositing them in a large group around the plaza's assorted fountains and statues.

For several minutes, the Empress stood atop her airship and watched her armies move through her city. Most of the arriving legions had set up camp within the city walls, intending to leave by ship, but at least one was still in the forest outside the city, its white canvas tents standing out like patches of new-fallen snow among the blue-leafed trees.

Even without the powers of the Triforce of Wisdom to amplify and augment her own natural abilities, Zelda sensed the activation of the portal above the capital's walls. She closed her eyes in concentration, and determined that four individuals of great power had arrived. Two she recognized immediately as Daskin and Erike, though they were now the Bearers of Power and Courage, respectively. A third presence felt like Lynaka, though Zelda puzzled over this, since Midna had reported that the Hero had been killed by…

Zelda's eyes flew open in horror. Ganondorf was here! Not only was he here, she sensed within him the disturbingly familiar energies of the Triforce of Shadow.

Even as she drew her powers about her in preparation, Zelda sensed Daskin's presence drawing closer, and she turned to see him soaring through the air toward the _Phoenix_, his hair and jacket fluttering in the wind.

Daskin touched down a few feet away, his face uncharacteristically solemn. Zelda knew at once he was about to say something she did not want to hear.

"Ganondorf is here!" Zelda snapped in lieu of a greeting. "Quickly, back to the city walls, before he can attack the legions!"

Daskin raised a hand. "Wait," he said, and she regarded him questioningly. "He's with us," he explained.

"What?" Zelda demanded, not quite able to believe what he'd just said.

"It's complicated and I still think he's hiding something from me, but yes, Ganondorf is working with us," Daskin replied. "As usual, he's running half a dozen schemes at once and only telling us what he thinks we need to know, but it does seem he really is on our side." He frowned. "For the moment, at least."

Zelda began to ask another question, but again, Daskin raised a hand.

"We've got a lot of catching up to do," he said, shifting uncomfortably. Daskin paused, looking out over the city, one hand on the sword at his side. He sighed. "There's…There's no easy way to say this…" He looked around the upper hull of the _Phoenix_, his jaw muscles working as he tried to find the right words. "Um, maybe we should go inside," he said, gesturing to the hatch between them.

Zelda nodded wordlessly and stepped forward, swiftly levitating down into the cabin of her airship. "Take us back to the fortress," she said to Impa through the cockpit door, then closed it.

* * *

Hours later, when all the legions were aboard the mile-wide monstrosity and they were well out over the ocean, Lynaka turned from the wide window in the tower room she'd claimed for herself when she heard a knock at her door.

"It's me," Daskin's voice said, muffled by the steel door.

"Come in," she said, leaning back against the windowsill.

The salty sea breeze from the vent next to the window toyed with her hair, sending red strands floating around her face as she watched Daskin open the door and step inside, looking uncharacteristically solemn.

"How did she take the news?" Lynaka asked. The mustering of the legions, the departure, and the reunion with Daskin's parents-in which Daskin had had to physically restrain his father from attacking Ganondorf, and Lynaka herself had to explain to Lord Fenris what had really happened-had been so chaotic that she hadn't been able to exchange more then brief greetings with Zelda.

"It was hard to tell," Daskin said, shrugging out of his jacket, which he tossed over one of her chairs. He rolled up the sleeves of his shirt as he joined her at the window. "When I told her, she went very, very still. I thought she sounded upset, but trying to keep it under control." He frowned. "Or, she could have sincerely had that little of a reaction; it's hard to tell with her now. She seems…" He leaned against the windowsill, crossing his arms over his chest. "Zelda seems almost like a completely different person now. If she didn't look and feel exactly the same through my higher senses, I'd believe you if you said she was actually one of the old Emperor's other nieces."

"To me, she seemed very… cold," Lynaka said. "She didn't seem at all excited to see me again." She shrugged. "Zelda does have a great deal more on her mind now, but still, the… warmness, the pleasant demeanor she had when we first met is completely gone."

"She worries me," Daskin said, gazing out over the ocean. "My mother explained what happened to her, but still, I didn't expect such a drastic change."

Lynaka glanced over at him. "What do you mean?"

"Even though she doesn't have Wisdom at the moment," Daskin said, "she still feels extremely powerful, more powerful than she should be without it. That, combined with this new cold and calculating mindset she seems to have, feels disturbingly similar to someone _else_ we know." He gave her a sidelong glance, raising his brows for emphasis.

Lynaka's own brows rose as she caught his meaning. "You don't think…?"

Daskin shrugged. "I haven't seen the two of them talking, but I sure wouldn't be happy if I did. The _last_ thing Zelda needs right now is some Dark Lord whispering in her ear." He took a deep breath and let it out, drumming his fingers on the hilt of the Twilight Blade at his side. "The thought of what Zelda could do with all her power and the armies she commands makes me distinctly uncomfortable. The last thing _we_ need is a Dark Lady."

Lynaka was about to reply when she noticed the white sails of a ship against the deep blue ocean far below. The fortress overtook the ship and passed it with such speed that Lynaka turned to Daskin in surprise. "Just how fast are we going?"

Daskin looked down at the swiftly passing sea. "My mother thinks this thing is capable of moving up to three hundred miles per hour, perhaps more."

"Per _hour_?" Lynaka said incredulously. Then she reminded herself that she'd seen far stranger things in her life than a massive machine that could fly through the air more swiftly than any living creature.

They both turned at a short, sharp knock on the door. "Yes?" Lynaka said.

The door opened to reveal the Emissary Val, who said, "A Sheikah agent finally got through to Viserys; his fleet is going to meet us two hundred miles off the coast. Lord Fenris wants you two to come up to the control room so we can discuss strategy."

"Strategy?" Daskin said with joking bluster. "We go in, blow up the fortress, kill all the sorcerers, and then Lynaka here sticks the Dark God with her sword so the Goddesses can destroy him. What other strategy could we need?"

Val gave him an amused half-smile, but otherwise ignored the joke. "Come on," she said, stepping back into the corridor.

"Do you ever take anything seriously?" Lynaka said to Daskin with a grin.

He gave this exaggerated consideration, stroking his chin with his fingers. "The way I see it," he said, "I can either crack jokes and not take this seriously at all, or I can take this completely seriously and give in to my nagging urge to find a cave to hide in until this is all over."

"Make sure this cave has room for two," Lynaka said with a wry smile, tossing him his jacket.

"I thought Gerudo never ran from a fight," Daskin said with feigned shock as they walked out into the corridor.

"Gerudo don't generally fight gods," Lynaka replied, only half joking.

* * *

Erike paced back and forth along the row of consoles in the flying fortress' control room, waiting for the others to arrive. She paused, palm resting on the pommel of the Master Sword at her side, and looked around the room, fighting impatience.

Lord Fenris stood at the makeshift strategy table they had set up in an open area of the command room, poring over a map of the Far South. He wore his forest-green Hylian Army uniform, his sword at his side, and Erike noted that his hand had not once left its hilt since Ganondorf had entered and crossed to stand next to him. The Dark Lord had marked the location of the Divine Host's hidden fortress, and the two of them were rather tersely discussing the best approach to the enemy's stronghold with their newly acquired battle platform.

Neither man was bothering to hide the animosity they harbored toward one another, but at least they were making good on their promise to set their differences aside for the duration of the mission.

Lady Midna stood next to the main control console, occasionally making minor adjustments. Her long sleeves and the hem of her dark robe swirled with her movements, half-hiding the sword at her waist. Erike noted that Midna's weapon was the one her son had borne before he had received the Twilight Blade; apparently Daskin and his mother had traded swords.

The door at one end of the control room opened, and Zelda entered. To Erike's surprise, her friend's hair was pulled back into an uncharacteristic severe braid, and her attire was somber; her boots, trousers, cloak, and high-collared jacket were all black, the buttons gold and stamped with the Calatian Imperial standard, the hems of her garments trimmed in dark red. A rapier hung from her belt, and she also wore gloves.

But most surprising was the utter lack of any warmth in her expression; granted, she had just learned of her fiancé's death, but still, Zelda's entire demeanor was remarkably cold.

"Where are we?" she said to Lord Fenris, crossing to join him at the strategy table.

"About five hours from the rendezvous point, I estimate," he said, looking up from the map. "From there, we estimate perhaps an hour to the fortress, at top speed."

"What sort of resistance can we expect?" Zelda asked Ganondorf.

"There are usually no more than twelve of the Divine Host's highest-ranking sorcerers in the fortress at any time," the Dark Lord replied. "But, we must take into consideration that the Dark God himself will be there; even in his inhibited mortal form, he still wields great power. All of the sorcerers will summon their bound armies, which will further complicate things."

"That is why we are bringing the legions," Zelda said, a slight tinge of impatience coloring her voice. "While my armies and any troops Viserys brings engage the sorcerers' forces, we will enter the fortress and destroy the Warlock and his acolytes. Lynaka and the Triforce Bearers will find the Dark God and destroy him."

Erike took a step closer as Zelda turned a cool stare upon Midna.

"On that subject," she said in clipped tones, "if you are not planning to keep my Triforce for yourself, Queen of Twilight, I will be requiring it back now."

"You keep talking to me like that, I just might keep it," Midna said without turning. "Getting snippy with me isn't helping."

Zelda broke away from the table and marched towards Midna. "We do not have time for this!" she exclaimed. "You will return my Triforce, or-"

"Or what?" Midna said, turning to fix her with a disapproving look. "You'll take it?"

Zelda glared at her. "If you insist on continuing with this farce, I may have to!"

"Nice to see we're all getting along so well," Daskin remarked dryly as he and Lynaka entered the control room, accompanied by Val.

"Oh, do shut up!" Zelda snapped, half-turning in his direction. "Not every situation requires your inane commentary."

"Good morning to you, too, Empress," Daskin said with sardonic sweetness.

Zelda hissed an exasperated sigh past her teeth. "Why anyone would give a piece of the Triforce to an oaf like you is quite beyond me."

"This is exactly what I'm talking about," Midna said, crossing her arms. "My son is your friend, or at least he was, and this is how you treat him now?"

"Pardon me, Your Majesty, if I no longer find your son's obnoxious japes amusing," Zelda said with forced patience. "I have a great many more concerns now, and I have had to put aside such childish things. In light of _his_ responsibilities, perhaps your son ought to do the same."

Erike narrowed her eyes at Ganondorf when she saw him smirking, but he returned her gaze unconcernedly.

She sighed to herself. Before anyone else could speak, she raised her voice and said, "If we can all resist the urge to argue with one another, our strategy still needs refinement. We will all be engaged in battle before the end of the day; we should not waste our energies on each other."

Zelda fixed her with a glare, but remained silent, and returned to the table. Erike saw her sister give her an approving smile as she and Daskin moved to join her.

* * *

They were five hundred miles from the coast when the Divine Host struck.

Daskin was engaged in a discussion with his father over the legions, and whether they should attempt to teleport them inside the fortress' walls or deploy them outside, thereby drawing the attention of their sorcerer-commanders away from the strike team. Suddenly, his mother shouted, "Get down!" and he felt a brief build-up of power nearby before a massive beam of energy tore an entire wall off of the control room.

Daskin momentarily gripped the table against the intense wind that howled through the breach. But as he sensed the powers of the sorcerer attacking them charging again, he allowed himself to be sucked outside amid a flurry of papers, then engaged his levitation abilities.

With the Twilight Blade in hand, Daskin soared over the twisted spires and towers of the flying fortress, searching for the enemy mage. He'd done this dance so many times he thought he could follow the steps in his sleep; the Divine Host attacked, his friends fought off the soldiers while he, his mother, and any other mages that happened to be with them searched for the sorcerer-commander and killed him or her. Did the Dark God's armies _ever_ change their strategy?

Below, he could see the charging shapes of the Divine Host soldiers in their black-and-purple uniforms, screaming incoherently as they hurled themselves against the Calatian soldiers spread throughout the flying castle. The legionaries shouted their own war cries, screaming orders to one another as they gathered against the rushing tide of steel battering them from all sides.

From the breach in the command tower, Daskin saw flashes of light as a sorcerer attacked his friends, but as he moved to assist them, a lance of fiery orange energy whirled up from the roof of one of the spires and impacted him in the chest.

Drawing deeply on the energies of the Triforce of Power, Daskin shrugged off the assault, and instead followed the line of the beam right back to its caster. Beam after beam screamed up at him as he dived like a hunting falcon toward his prey, but Daskin ignored them all, shielded in far greater energy.

When he was so close he could see the purple-robed sorcerer's eyes widen in terror, Daskin slowed to a stop. "My turn," he said, grinning.

A ribbon of brilliant golden energy wound its way through his fingers for a fraction of a second before spreading out to engulf the enemy sorcerer completely, leaving little more than a puff of ash behind.

Pausing only to smirk at what was left of his opponent, Daskin flew back up to the command tower. As he approached, he ducked as an enemy soldier flew backwards out of the breach, screaming like a madman until it slammed into the wall of the spire closest to the command tower and plummeted out of sight.

Inside, Ganondorf towered over the others in the room, laying waste to the invaders with every sweep of his massive arms and spin of his blade. Nearby, Daskin's parents stood back to back, relentlessly fending off soldiers whose apparent objective was destruction of the control consoles. Erike and Lynaka stood a few paces in front of them, whirling and pivoting as they moved in a synchronized deadly dance among the press of foes.

Daskin studied the flood of black and purple for a moment before he realized where they were coming from. He floated backwards a few dozen yards, preparing to cover himself in destructive energy and plow through their lines, but he suddenly stopped when he noticed Zelda stumble after a tremendous blow from her opponent snapped her rapier.

He altered his trajectory, preparing to assist, but Ganondorf was closer. "Zelda!" the Dark Lord called, and tossed her his sword. Before she had even caught it, Ganondorf produced an enormous double-bladed axe from beneath his cloak and resumed smashing his way through the enemy soldiers towards the door. Zelda dodged and spun among the knot of Divine Host creature-soldiers gathered around her, twisting her new sword among them with deadly accuracy.

Obviously, they had the situation under control, Daskin thought, so he resumed his hunt for the sorcerers commanding the horde. They liked to stay well away from the action, but in a place where they could see their troops in order to direct them. Many simply flew above the battlefield out of bowshot, but some were more clever and hid themselves.

As Daskin flew among the towers and spires of the fortress, he searched with both his eyes and his higher senses for the enemy mages, but he didn't have to look very hard, because no sooner had he spotted one perched atop one of the towers when two more appeared, hovering next to their comrade with their voluminous robes fluttering in the wind.

"Three of you?" Daskin shouted challengingly. "That doesn't seem very fair."

The sorcerer who seemed to be the leader, a pale-skinned man with long dark brown hair, raised an eyebrow at the challenge, then gestured sharply with one gloved hand. Three more purple-robed mages appeared, swiftly flying into position to completely surround Daskin.

The Bearer of Power grinned widely, drawing deeply on his Triforce. "That's more like it!" he exclaimed, adding a thunderous rumbling echo to his voice simply because he could.

As one, the Divine Host mages attacked, hurling twisting bolts of elemental fury at him. Daskin passively allowed them all to strike him, absorbing the energy of the blasts with his own powers, then sending them flying back at their casters a moment later.

The enemy mages scattered like a flock of startled birds, but Daskin gave them no chance to recover. Narrowing his eyes at one of the mages, he flung out his hand and loosed a bolt of lightning from his palm. The writhing ribbon of energy chased the sorcerer across the sky before lancing through his chest, continuing on to the right to intersect another frantically dodging mage, and then snaking up to ensnare a third.

Daskin rolled his arm as if cracking a whip, and the long bolt of lightning twisted and snapped the three pinned mages into their comrades. Daskin added another bolt from his other hand, and for a long moment, held all six imprisoned in a twitching cage of blue-white light and energy before suddenly quadrupling the amount of power flowing into the lightning web.

When the light faded, accompanied by rolling thunder bouncing off the walls of the flying fortress, nothing remained of any of the mages but a few scraps of burned cloth slowly drifting with the wind.

Daskin looked down at the powerfully shining Triforce emblem on his hand. "I love this thing," he said to himself, grinning.

He looked around the gargantuan structure, noting that battle still raged between the legionaries and what seemed like hundreds of remaining creature-soldiers.

"Now," Daskin said slowly, casting the net of his senses again, "where are the rest of you hiding?"

He had extended the range of his senses nearly a mile in all directions when he abruptly encountered a presence radiating so much magic that he reflexively dropped his sword and clapped his hands to his ears, though his ears were not what was being deafened.

Daskin had been falling for some time before he regained enough control to direct his plummet onto the roof of one of the towers. He landed heavily, and rolled for several yards before he managed to stop himself.

The overwhelmingly powerful presence continued to assault his higher senses through its mere existence; if this was a god, it was ten times stronger than any god he had yet encountered, infinitely more powerful than was possible for any mortal.

He writhed uncontrollably on the rooftop, clutching his head and trying frantically to shield himself. Now the Dark God seemed to be specifically targeting him, and Daskin felt like he was caught in a flooding river, desperately close to being swept away.

Finally, after several agonizing minutes, Daskin managed to summon enough power from his piece of the Triforce to shield his mind against the assault. His head still throbbed with one of the most painful headaches he'd ever experienced, but at least now he could stand up without falling over.

As he opened his eyes, he became aware of a large dark figure standing a few feet away. He turned, and saw that it was a very tall man in a richly brocaded dark purple robe and cloak, his face hidden by an enshrouding hood.

When he spoke, his voice was so loud and so deep that Daskin didn't understand his first few words. "-_**Power, are you? Where is Ganondorf?**_"

Daskin blinked through a renewed surge of pain. "Why?" he managed. "He… owe you money or… something?"

The tall figure's glowing purple eyes flashed within his hood. "_**You dare be flippant with me? Do you know who I am, mortal?**_"

"Someone I shouldn't be flippant with, apparently," Daskin said, knowing perfectly well whom he was addressing. Part of him quavered in alarm, insisting that this was one of the very few beings in existence that posed a threat to him as Bearer of Power.

However, another part of him took perverse delight in the fact that _he_ was one of the very few mortals who could be flippant, even rude to a god and get away with it. A twisted part of him was so amused by this that he started laughing.

Setarekh's glowing eyes seemed to goggle at him in disbelief. "_**Are you mad?**_" the evil deity said, astonished.

Somehow, Daskin still could not stop laughing. "Quite probably," he struggled out between giggles. "I'm standing here, talking to the fourth most powerful entity in existence, and I'm _laughing_ at him!"

"_**I could obliterate you in an instant!**_" the Dark God raged. "_**You are so insignificant in comparison to me that I would require only the barest fraction of my power to reduce you to your constituent atoms!**_"

"Funny," Daskin said, crossing his arms casually across his chest, "a fraction of your power's all you got, isn't it?"

Setarekh's glowing eyes narrowed. "_**More than enough to destroy you**_," he rumbled.

Daskin rubbed one hand across his upper lip and sniffed. "So do it already."

"_**You WANT me to kill you?**_" the Dark God said incredulously.

Daskin shrugged unconcernedly. "I don't think you can. You'd have done it already if you could."

"_**Do you not recall the pain you experienced merely from sensing my presence?**_" Setarekh thundered. "_**How much more pain do you think I could wring from your pathetic body if I meant to?**_"

Daskin held up his hand. "Well, you should have done it before I learned how to block you," he said, only half bluffing; Daskin wasn't sure just how much of the Dark God's power he could repel, but he certainly wasn't going to voice those doubts.

"_**Your pathetic barriers are nothing against my power**_," the Dark God growled. "_**I am superior to you in every conceivable way**_."

Daskin hooked a finger behind his ear and wiggled it mockingly. "I'm hearing an awful lot of talking and not a whole lot of 'reducing me to my constituent atoms'," he said, pitching his voice into a mockery of the Dark God's.

_If Setarekh has teeth, he's probably gnashing them under that hood_, Daskin thought amusedly, watching the dark figure's gloved hands clench into fists. He had no idea why he was persisting in something as unbelievably foolish as antagonizing the Dark God himself, but he kept on.

He raised his hands and waved his fingers invitingly. "Come on then," Daskin said. "Obliterate me already."

With a thunderous cry of rage, Setarekh threw out his hands and hurled twin screaming streams of scarlet-and-purple energy at Daskin.

Daskin drew upon the Triforce of Power more deeply than he ever had before, putting every ounce of his concentration and will into shielding himself from the punishing assault. He felt the shield turning the Dark God's onslaught aside, but knew that he could not maintain this level of power for long, even with the Triforce.

When he detected a subtle twist of power high above the rooftop where he and Setarekh stood, Daskin risked a momentary relaxation of his concentration just enough to see what it was.

The Dark God took full advantage and poured more power into his attack, forcing Daskin down to one knee, but Daskin considered this worth it.

Lynaka erupted out of the hole in the command room, soaring down to the rooftop in a long, graceful dive, her arms stretched out to the sides and her pure white blade shining in her hand. Daskin followed her with his eyes as she fell, gradually turning herself in the air until she was oriented for her landing.

With a tremendous crash that actually buckled the metal of the rooftop, Lynaka landed on her feet a few yards behind the Dark God. Setarekh effortlessly turned to direct one of his streams of obliterating energy upon her, but astonishingly, Lynaka dodged and rushed forward, her sword curving out in a gracefully deadly arc.

Setarekh reeled, but Lynaka's blade still sliced through the tips of his fingers. The Dark God bellowed in pain, his fingertips smoking, and stumbled backwards.

"_**How…?**_" he gasped, genuine surprise in his unnaturally deep voice.

Lynaka boldly strode forward, holding up the pure white sword, its brilliant green gem flashing in the bright sunlight. "I bear a weapon of the Celestial Realm, forged by the Divine Smith himself," she said. "I know your secret, and now turn it against you. Meet your fate, devil."

With that, she charged, obsidian ribbons of energy snaking out from her hands to wrap around the blade of her sword.

But, the Dark God vanished in a swirl of crimson light, disappearing before she could reach him. Lynaka slowed to a stop, whipping her sword out into a frustrated slash through the fading remnants of power.

"Took your sweet time getting here," Daskin panted, sinking down to sit on the metal rooftop. Resisting the Dark God's attack had drained him more than he was willing to admit.

"I _was_ busy," Lynaka said with a half-smile, allowing the obsidian energy to fade away as she sheathed her weapon. "His minions were bent on destroying the controls, and I felt it to be a good idea to stop them."

"Another minute or so and you'd have had to find yourself a new boyfriend," Daskin said only half teasingly.

Lynaka fixed him with a fondly amused look. "You can probably stop doing whatever it is you're doing to make your voice echo like that now…"

"Am I still-" Daskin paused and returned his voice to normal. "I didn't realize I was still doing that."

Lynaka walked over and sat down next to him. "We could hear you talking all the way up in the command tower," she said with a grin. "Over the battle." She shook her head in amazement. "You _are_ insane."

Smirking, Daskin folded his hands behind his head and lay back, as if they were on a calm beach and not a windy rooftop on a flying fortress hundreds of feet above the ocean. He looked up at her, grinning. "That's why you love me."

"Oh, is that why?" she said, quirking an eyebrow playfully. "I was beginning to wonder."

"Well, yeah," he said, closing his eyes. "Who else do you know that's crazy enough to mock the Dark God himself right to his… hood? I've got more guts than anybody you know."

"I'd say so," Lynaka said teasingly, and he felt a finger poke him in the stomach.

Daskin opened one eye, giving her a mock-irritated glare. "You'd better watch it, woman," he said. "You keep making cracks like that, I might not come save you next time."

"Seems to me _I_ saved _you,_" Lynaka said in mock indignation. She pretended to ponder this. "Actually, as I recall, I've _never_ needed you to come save me."

Daskin propped himself up on his elbows. "I've rescued you plenty of times."

Lynaka cocked her head, adopting an exaggerated thoughtful frown. "No, I don't think so. I can't think of even one time."

Daskin rolled over and got to his feet. "I think we've got better things to do than sit around talking during a battle."

"Oh, _now_ we've got better things to do," Lynaka said, laughing. She raised her arm toward him. "Help me up."

Daskin crossed his arms. "I thought you didn't need my help," he said, fighting not to smile.

She sighed and extended her hand, also fighting not to smile.

Daskin grabbed Lynaka's hand and started to pull her up, then relaxed his arm for just a brief moment, causing her to unceremoniously thump back down on her rear. Laughing, he pulled Lynaka to her feet.

She gave him a good-natured frown and punched his arm, but her expression abruptly turned serious as she gazed at a point beyond his shoulder.

Curious, Daskin turned to look.

And that was when he saw the hurricane.

* * *

Author's Note: Thanks again to hairyhen for beta reading. Thanks to _you_ for reading. Till next time!

[Edit: As you may have guessed from this being the last chapter and yet clearly not the end, I have abandoned this story. If you're really curious as to how this story would have ended, I've posted my outline notes for the ending on my DeviantArt account; there's a link to that post in my profile on this site under the 'Legend of Zelda' heading.

This story as a whole is nowhere near my best work, and I don't consider it worth finishing. It frustrated me endlessly through the last year I struggled to work on it, and as far as I'm concerned, if I don't enjoy writing something, it isn't worth writing. So, if you're disappointed that this story will never be finished, I apologize, but there are better stories out there for you to read. As of this edit, I'm working on a Star Wars story entitled '_One Missed Strike: The New Jedi Order_' which you can check out if you're interested. If Star Wars isn't your thing, you may enjoy some of the stories in my Favorites list.]


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